A Hundred Mysteries
by Kurosu
Summary: AU, MayuLoki with others. Mayura attends Enjaku Private Academy and forms the Mystery Club! She must feed the hungry, amuse the bored, solve the mysteries, ignore the jealousy, and lastly, avoid the sexy, stalking chancellor. -UPDATED so soon! Ep 10, New Obsession!-
1. Club Approved!

Disclaimers applied to all future chapters (because I'm lazy), _Matantei Loki Ragnarok_ belongs to Kinoshita Sakura.

**

* * *

**

A Hundred Mysteries

written by Kurosu

**Episode One: Club Approved! Call Me by Name!**

Her deep ruby eyes held determination like no other. There was a passion lit like wildfire in the dry forest on an extremely hot day, and nothing could extinguish such intensity. Today was a day like no other; it signify the start of something great, something so extravagant that the gods would have to declare... dooms day, the apocalypse, Ragnarok, or something along those lines.

Maybe those were merely dramatics speaking, but let's just say it was not a typical day. Then again, _typical_ was never a word to describe Daidouji Mayura.

On this monumental, spring day, this pink-haired teenager held the stack of papers in her hands as if they were her lifeline. She stared at the writings on the sheets of paper so hard they could've burned holes through them, but after three minutes of just plain staring, her audience was slowly losing patience.

"Daidouji-san," someone coughed.

"Ah yes," she managed to spluttered out, and now with her full attention at the situation at hand, she gathered her wits together and presented her case to the elite student council of Enjaku Private Academy.

"Student council president, vice president, and the members who have gathered her today, I, Daidouji Mayura, would like to submit my application to create Enjaku's first and only... Mystery Club!"

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo flash ~ * ~**

Now then, somewhere not too far away, a group of students were casually entertaining themselves in a classroom. Three young men and one female. They didn't look like a group that would end up together in this one room, but somehow fate gathered them into this particular situation. To be quite honest, the ladies of fate had put the spinning wheel into the hands of a mere mortal girl, who was currently amusing the student council with her long list of reasons why a mystery club should exist in the school.

Narugami Touru, a second year high school student who happened to be in the same B-3 class as Mayura, was busily wolfing down his third bento lunch box, with another box awaiting to be consumed in another five minutes. He was also part of the kendou club--third seat in rank--faithfully carrying his bokken everywhere he went. Not once had someone seen the young man without it, even when he privately relieved himself in the restroom.

Kakinouchi Koutaro, another second year high school student who was actually in the top B-1 class, looked bored with his feet perched on the desk and his focus on the blackberry phone in his hands. Not only was this guy smart, he was rich and considered himself a ladies' man. Arrogant bastard.

Yamino Ryuusuke, a third year high school student at the top of his C-1 class, was occupying himself with sanitizing the classroom, from sweeping the tiled floor to washing the windows three consective times to make sure his reflection was etched clearly in the glass panes. Then his attention came to the desks and bookshelves. More spraying disinfectant and more intense scrubbing, he would not allow a single speck of dust to exist in the same room that he was in. He wasn't a religious neat freak, or, others would call him, _housewife_. He was just bored.

And lastly and specially, Hel-chan, who was a first year high school student also in the top of her A-1 class, preferred every person in the world to address her as such. She had a great penchant for books, and like Narugami with his bokken, Hel-chan was always seen with her face in the pages of a book, which she was currently doing now, or carrying a myriad of them wherever she went. (Although one would agree a book in the restroom was better than having a useless bokken.) Oh, and she was also Yamino's little sister.

Two excruciating hours later, the center of their universe had finally arrived, and Mayura, looking happier than ever, skidded right into the room and nearly hit the wall if she hadn't put on her brakes in time. After letting out a squeal that had potential to break the sound barrier, she announced, "We've been approved! The Mystery Club is official!"

Reactions varied from her fellow club members: Hel-chan and Yamino clapped their hands with a bright smile; Narugami, with food in his mouth, manly punched a fist into the air; and finally a bored Kakinouchi spared her a single glance.

"Well not quite official," she explained embarrassingly, "There's one more thing I have to do, and then we'll be set!"

"Let's celebrate!" Narugami suggested, after finishing the last bento box.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Kakinouchi mumbled, "if you suggest we go out for food and drinks, after you ate all those boxes."

"That sounds like a good idea," Hel-chan chirped, putting her book away.

"Let's get cleaned up and meet somewhere," her brother agreed with the suggestion.

Now let's back this up a bit to before the whole mystery club idea was in the process of creation. Mayura had always been a fan of the unknown, supernatural, extraterrestrial, and whatnot that could not be explained, period. This came about because when she was a young child, her mother read bedtime stories to her straight from a book of mysteries, because for some strange reason, the book of fairy tales _mysteriously_ disappeared from the family library.

The girl grew up with all sorts of mysteries, seeking the unknown and unfamiliar, proving of its existence while torturing the people around her with nonsense. Such strong feelings burned ever brighter after her mother's death from a _mysterious_ illness. On her deathbed, Mayura promised the fragile woman that she would find and solve 100 mysteries!

Sadly, a mystery within the mystery that is Mayura wasn't so much a mystery anymore.

But how did she managed to recruit four seemingly normal students into her outrageous adventure?

Narugami grabbed his bokken and was already on his way to the door, "Hey Daidouji, better keep your promise to bring food every time we do this." She nodded, wearing a nervous smile.

Kakinouchi sighed, "As long as you'll get beautiful clients." On his way through the doorway, he seemed to look thoughtful with a grin on his face, "Hm, since I'm involved, those beautiful women will have no choice but to come to me!" His narcissistic laughter echoed from the hallway.

Finally the two siblings walked up to Mayura, who gave them a curt bow, "Thanks guys for helping me out! I don't know how I would've found two more members." One of the prerequisite in forming a club was to have a total of five members in agreement.

"It's really nothing, Mayura-san," Yamino said shyly, not used to being thanked and praised, "We should be thank you instead, for allowing us to be involved."

Hel-chan nodded, "I'm so happy we're friends! It's always been onii-san and me for the longest time. But because of you, Mayura-senpai, we feel that we now belong. Thank you."

Touched deeply by the siblings' words, Mayura began to tear up and pulled them into a tight hug, and they returned her embrace easily. "I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!" she shouted, now making the two feel a tiny bit uncomfortable which they didn't think could happened when their energetic friend was in the picture, "This will be the best year ever! Mystery Club forever!"

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo swirl ~ * ~**

After the quick departure and the promise to meet up at the local cafe just right off campus, Mayura decided to get the final requirement to make her club official: the chancellor's signature. The day was gradually losing its light with the sun setting in the background, and a breeze mysteriously picked up when she stood in front of the administrative building, that resembled more closely to a European style mansion.

She had never seen the chancellor before, since her admission into Enjaku Private Academy, nor were there any photos of the said man. It was as if he was also a _mystery_!

With one last look at the looming height the building created, she walked up to the entrance with her schoolbag in both hands and stepped through the towering archway, unknown to her of a pair of eyes watching her from the window of the third floor. Even the doors creaking open to the almost empty lobby was like a scene out of a horror movie.

The receptionist behind the oblong desk of wood greeted her with a smile, "How can I help you, Miss?"

Seeing that the woman was to cheerful to be a mystery, Mayura walked up to the desk and said, "I'm here to see the chancellor. I need his support and signature for my club."

"We're about to close for the day, but he should still be in his office. It's on the top floor." She pointed to the stairs and then elevators, "You can take either one. His office is number 322."

"Thank you," she bowed and took the elevator, thinking the faster she got this done, the happier she would be. She thought it would be a quick trek, but the slow-moving compartment seemed to be against her. The soft instrumental leaked through the speakers as if she was on the waiting end of an evil phonecall to customer service.

She noticed a small video camera in the corner of the elevator booth and stared at it with a blank expression, as if she stared at it long enough, she could see the person at the other end, which was impossible and didn't happen. But it was certain that whoever was at the other end could see her clearly and vividly, and that was just downright creepy.

Yet she felt no fear, exiting the elevator, and began to search the numbers on the door. Odd and even were alternating every few meters on either side, and when she passed by an intersection, the number jumped up higher, so the office had to be near the end of the main hallway. She didn't seem to notice the lighting of the branched off hall was flickering ominously and then burnt out into darkness. (The janitor should be fired for not replacing it already. It is an elite academy after all.)

Anyway, Mayura was at the end of the main hall and after a few seconds of deduction, she took a left and followed it to the very end. Even before she reached there, the doors were grand and exquisite, and the golden plaque had the title _Chancellor_ scribbled in fancy letters on it.

For once in her lifetime, she felt nervous. She never had to face someone of such high authority and prestige before. Rumors had it that the chancellor's family was of noble ancestry, but they truly did build and put their wealth and lives into the academy. It was a very long legacy, and each new chancellor came from the family.

Clutching her schoolbag tightly in one hand, she swallowed hard before knocking on the door. A deep, soothing voice resonated from within the room, "Come in." She turned the door handle and pushed the door in as slowly as she possibly could, to give her some time to find the owner of the voice and a strange tapping sound.

It was pretty huge, from what she could make of the office in the... dark. Did someone forget to pay the electricity bill? Her vision could only take in big, blurry objects about the room, but to the right side, she could see the outlines of two couches facing each other with a coffee table in between them. But it was from the opposite side of the room, the tapping continued, and when she was in the room and the door closed with a click, the tapping stopped.

She extended her arms in front of her to make sure she didn't hit anything as she moved through the strange unlit room. She yelped when her foot hit the edge of a small table. A chuckle echoed in the darkness before there was another click. The room lit up, with the tall floor lamp by a desk as a source of illumination.

A gasp escaped her lips when her dark crimson eyes clashed with amused, emerald ones. She was openly staring at the handsome man before her. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, with youthful eyes and a seductive smile. His blonde hair seemed to glow against the light, and his poise was confident with a bit of arrogance.

"I apologize for the unsettling darkness," his voice was deep and almost sounded like he was purring. She blinked in confusion, watching him return to his big, leather chair. "Welcome to my office," he formally greeted her and gestured her to the chair in front of his desk, "How can I be of service to you, Mayura-chan?"

Now, if she didn't show any signs of confusion before, she certainly was oozing with it now from the expression on her face to the awkard manner in which she stood. He had just called her name, which she didn't remember giving out to him, with familiarity that just threw her mind into a whirlwind of bewilderment and momentarily, she forgot her original purpose.

"How do you my name?" she asked.

He winked and put his index finger to his lips, "That's a secret."

She remained in her spot and opened her mouth, wanting to say something, then shut it again being uncertain as to what to exactly say. She opened it a second time and blurted it out innocently, "Are you really the chancellor?"

He laughed, his voice resounding so deep and melodious, so pleasant to the ears, but Mayura's brow furrowed into offense at his reaction. She was being serious, yet he was acting like they were old friends. She moved closer and stopped in front of desk with a slight glare, repeating herself, "Mou, are you really the chancellor?"

His carefree laughter died down to small chuckles, staring at her endearing, pouty expression. He leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand and gave her one of his most alluring smiles, "Indeed, I am."

"Okay." As if the confrontation was now over, she reached into her schoolbag and pulled out the application for her club and laid it on his desk. His intense, green eyes never leaving her form, he listened to her sweet voice explain her situation, "The student council have approved of my club, so it would be a great honor to have the Chancellor's support."

And with that said, she gave him a deep bow.

Silence loomed between them, but she met his gaze with steady resolve, and he continued to grace her with his smile. He picked up the sheet of paper that required his signature and looked over the words as if he was actually reading it, but what he actually did was accessing her out of the corner of his eye. He noticed her slight fidgeting at the hem of her uniform jacket, a bit of fear behind her round, innocent eyes of a possible rejection.

"So Mayura-chan," he called her given name again, which triggered a twitch of annoyance from her eye, "what will your Mystery Club offer to the academy?"

She was stunned for a moment at such a _normal_ question, but she had the answer prepared because the student council had also asked her this. With a confident voice, she stated, "I hope that we will be able to discover and research the unknown--whether they are fact or fiction--and record our findings for the future generations of the academy. We will also lend our services to the investigations of and find solutions to any paranormal or extraterrestrial problems!

"Free of charge!" she added as an afterthought.

"Is that the reason you are attending this institution?"

She was once again surprised by his sudden question unrelated to the club, but she found her voice, "Enjaku IS the number one place in the world with unsolved mysteries and high paranormal activities, so... I guess you could say that." She looked away nervously, sweating a bit, like she had been caught sneaking into the cookie jar at night.

"Hm, you are definitely an interesting one, Mayura-chan," he seemed to mumble to himself, and with one swift movement, he wrote his name on the required line and stamped his seal on the spot next to it.

Mayura looked down at the paper with pure joy radiating from her face. She accepted it with both hands and bowed again, "Thank you so much for your support, sir!"

"Loki."

"Huh?"

"Please call me Loki."

What a strange man, to request that she, a student of the academy, call him, the chancellor of the academy, by his first name! She wanted to refuse, or else she would be punished for disrespect, but the intensity of his gaze told him she had better or else there was a greater wrath she would be facing.

Apparent nervousness crept into her voice, as she tried to say his name, in a shy whisper, "L-Lo... Loki-sama..."

There was a strange pleasantness when the name rolled off tongue, and it felt natural that she called him by such. And as much as he didn't like the '-sama', he knew that was as far as he could get from her, but his expression did soften at the beautiful sound of her voice calling out to him.

* * *

Rawr! I cleaned up my magical girl genre idea, and it turned out to be like this, lol. I just had too much fun writing this piece. There will be more to this story. I just have a lot of mini plot ideas and not sure which mystery to start next. =P Let me know what you guys think. Thanks!


	2. Inconsequential Feeling!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Two: Inconsequential Feeling! Take the Offer!**

Life worked in mysterious ways, and when one knew things were too good to be true, it was just that: life was cruel. And Mayura was not an exception to the rule. Her club was approved, she had members (whether she bribed them or not wasn't the point) and even the chancellor supported her (well if his signature required on a document could be considered as such), so what else was the problem?

The club room.

"Wait, I don't understand," Mayura started. She had met with Wada Ayako, the vice president of the student council, that afternoon upon reception of an urgent notice to her Mystery Club. "Why can't we use the room we had the other day?"

She shook her head fervently, "That actually belonged to the poetry club. Their president was in the hospital from food poisoning, so meetings had been cancelled for a few days."

"Um, any of the science lab?"

"They're all taken, from chemistry, biology to geology, oceanography to environmental protection and animal preservation!"

"The arts and crafts building??"

"Painting, pottery, glassblowing, sewing, quilting, finger painting..."

"What, quilting?" Mayura squeaked, not realizing the strange choice was a club for finger painting, and the vice president just shrugged. "Is there a room that's not used?"

"Let's see," she was going through her list of clubs and locations, "Oh here... wait, nevermind. The Cosplay Club shares it with the Gothic Lolita Club." There was no longer any wonderment on how the Mystery Club had gotten its approval when there were an array of ridiculous clubs and hobbies in existence, and they said this instituation was the cream of the crop, the elite of the elitist!

Mayura began to fidget nervously again, awaiting the verdict that laid at the end of the list, and to confirm that fear, Ayako was apathetic to her cause, "Nothing! Not even the landscaper's shed is usable." She patted the depressed girl on the back, "Sorry, Daidouji. Unless you find a club room, your club will have to close."

This was truly ridiculous! The club was approved yesterday, and now it was going to be closed the next day if she didn't find a location for its existence! If that happened, at least her club would be recorded in Enjaku's history as being the most short lived club ever: 24 hours.

She let out one of the most depressing, uncharacteristic sigh ever, with her head bowed and her hands gripped the schoolbag in front of her, aimlessly walking across the campus. She had been to the majority of the building, requesting permission from some clubs to share the room, but so far, none had agreed to it, although the Bishounen Club offered her a spot in their group if she was willing to wear the male school uniform.

Oh, just what to do?!

Another long, depressing sigh escaped her lips. Dark clouds began forming over her head; bits of lightning flashed, thunder rumbling. Oh, how her head was starting to hurt from the burdern, and the stupid noise of giggling and screaming girls did nothing to relieve it. Was it so much to ask to have some silence to think?! She tried to push the sadistic swooning of said females from her mind, not bothering to find the cause of their girlish antics.

That was until, she crashed into something... frilly and warm. Her nose was being tickled from the white fabric of the cravat. She peered up to the owner of the fashion accessory and met the familiar green eyes of a certain chancellor. "Ah, Loki-sama!" she jumped back and bowed in apology. She winced inwardly at her clumsy manner and hoped he wouldn't scold her on such unsightly manners of a lady, not that she realized the pack of 'kyaa, he's so cute' girls were way worse.

Her head was still bowed in deep regret, when she felt something on her head. Her eye suddenly twitched when she came to the realization it was his hand... petting her head. There was a sense of impending doom surrounding her. She could feel the burning glares of the fangirls all aiming at her back and knew she had to remove herself from the scene.

Mayura slowly took a step back from the chancellor's hand, hoping that his touch would slip away from her, but that only encouraged him! His hand quickly fell into place on her shoulder and pulled her closer to him "Mayura-chan..."

The girls in the background screamed in horror at the intimacy of the first name basis with the inclusion of '-chan'. "You look so gloomy today," he said gently, his soothing voice tried to console her, which caused a series of fainting spells in the background.

"Um well, I have a few things going on," she said, hinting politely to him that she needed to get away... from him, "So please excuse me." She had successfully pulled away from him and started walking in the direction she was headed to before, but he wasn't going to let her go easily. She yelped when she felt a tug of her long, pink hair and turned around to face him angrily, "That's not very nice!"

He smirked.

He had the freakin' balls to smirk at her after what he impolitely did to her hair, which is the very life to every single female. He posed arrogantly with a hand on his hip and the other waving a scolding finger at her, "And it's not nice to leave when the chancellor is speaking to you." He had a point; she was disrespecting him if she left him in the middle of the conversation.

"S-sorry..."

She had a mixture of sadness and embarrasment on her face, and he leaned down to her eye level and smiled, pinching her cheeks and pulling on them gently, "You should be happy to see me."

"H-hey, you're being too familiar," she tried to speak and to yank his hands from her face. She was successful, but his hand found its place back on the top of her head. She pouted, all the while glaring at him too.

"There's no rule that says I can't." He laughed at her when she attempted to give him the death glare, but with his hand still ruffling through her pink hair, he turned her around and urged her to walk with him. Two-thirds of the female audience witnessing the scene fainted; the rest fell to the ground and bawled like babies, envying the special time alone with the sexy, mysterious bishounen.

She was obediently walking beside him now, so he managed to mess with her hair one last time before removing it from the top of her head. Her body seemed to relax when he did that, and he saw her let out a soft sigh. "You're so cute, Mayura-chan," he grinned.

She looked up at him, bewildered one moment and in the next glaring at him at what she believed was an insult, "Please don't treat me like a three-year old."

"No no, none at all," he chuckled.

So during the next few minutes, they walked in silence, and Mayura fell deep into her thoughts: What was she going to do about her club? And more importantly, where was the chancellor taking her and when and why was she in agreemen to even go with him?! What had this man done to her?! As much as she wanted to run away, there was some sort of invisible grip he had on her, as if... as if he had demon spirits swirling around her at his command. (If only she could see those spirits, because they were more like nuzzling against her body in a creepy, obsessive way.)

Then they came to a stop. He had led her to the administrative building where his office was located. She blinked and then turned to him with a questionable look, and being the oh so sexy gentleman that he was, he made a slight bow and gestured her towards the entrance, "After you, milady."

It looked like she wasn't able to escape this situation, and with a sigh, she entered the building, and both used the elevator to get to his office. When they got there, he was serving her a cup of hot peppermint tea. She couldn't deny the enticing beverage, with it relaxing her tense muscles and wetting her parched throat. He had his own cup and joined her in the sitting area, directly across from her.

"Feel better?" he asked.

She nodded in reply.

"So tell me, what has made you look so sad? It doesn't suit you at all." He leaned back against the leather couch, resting his right arm along the top, and crossed his right leg over his knee while awaiting her answer. He was giving her all the attention to her again, displaying such a soft, loving expression that one would use for... a lover?

And leave it to Mayura to be oblivious to this unexplanable affection, "Well you see, Loki-sama, I have a big problem with the Mystery Club. We don't have a club room anymore, and I was just told that we cannot have the club without a permanent location."

"Oh, that is quite a dilemma."

"And I've been around campus asking other clubs if they could share," she sighed, "But no one would accept." She stared down at the cup of tea for a moment then took a sip to calm her thoughts. "We haven't solved a single mystery yet!" she pouted.

He briefly assessed her and then smiled, "I know of a place you can use."

At the sound of those magical words, she lit up like it was Christmas morning and was on the edge of her seat, leaning towards the handsome as if to pounce on him for the answer. "Oh my gosh, where? Who do I speak to?!" The tiny hope that was nearly extinguished in her soul was now ablazed with renewed confidence.

"You never cease to amaze me, Mayura-chan." She ignored the 'I've got you where I want you' smirk that he was giving her, and he said in a hushed tone like it was a secret between the two of them, "I'm willing to let you use my office."

"DEAL!" she exclaimed without any hesitation, because mysteries were her life! She wanted to uphold that promise she made to her deceased mother years ago, and so when this opportunity arose, there was no way she could even thinking of declining such an offer, despite how wrong it was whichever way one looked at it. And being so naive in the ways of worldliness, she didn't take into the account of the motives of the sexy chancellor.

"Good, we'll have so much fun together."

That's when it hit her, "Wait, won't we be in the way of your work?"

"Of course not. I'll always make time for my favorite club."

"Erm, aren't you being biased?"

He waved her worries away, "I'm the chancellor. What I say goes."

She placed the cup down and stood up, "Thank you so much for your support, Loki-sama. We won't disappoint you." She gave him a deep bow of gratitude. "I'll see Wada-senpai right away and let her know." She picked up her schoolbag and was prepared to leave.

"Mayura-chan."

"Yes, Loki-sama?"

He was quiet for a bit, looking thoughtful, then shook his head, "Nevermind."

She nodded and left his office, and he continued to stare at the door after she left, with an unreadable expression on his face.

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY LOGO explode ~ * ~**

Why did class have to start so early in the mornings?! Couldn't they just start at noon and push everything back just a teeny bit? Then she could do nightly investigations and sleep during the mornings and go to class in late afternoon, that would be the mystery fanatic dream come true. Isn't that how vampires lived though?

Somehow during her sleepy thought process, she wondered if any vampires existed on campus.

Waking up two hours earlier was doing a number on her body, but to keep that promise to Narugami, she made bento lunch boxes enough for five people. How her classmate and friend managed to eat so much was beyond her. No, it wasn't a mystery she wanted to pursue; it was just Narugami being Narugami.

Then she felt the prick on her back, but she was too tired to lift her head from her desk. Class didn't start for another fifteen minutes, and their homeroom teacher had not arrived yet. She mumbled something incomprehensible, but there was another poke, followed by a 'psst, Daidouji' whisper.

"What is it, Narugami-kun?" she sighed, finally putting the energy into her system, and turned around to the seat behind her.

"Can I eat something before we start? I forgot to get breakfast."

"You mean you didn't eat because you knew I was bringing the food."

"Same thing," he replied and went through her extra tote bag for his lunches. While he was eating, she went back to her quick nap, and then a few minutes later, Narugami noticed the familiar, wavy hair peeking through the classroom doorway. "Oi, Hel-chan!" he waved her inside, and Mayura sat up again at the mentioned of the girl's name.

The freshman timidly made her way to them, clutching an evergreen-covered book close to her chest. "Mayura-senpai, Narugami-senpai." She seemed a bit frightened about something; her dark green eyes flittered about the room as if she was making sure no one was spying on them.

"Is something wrong, Hel-chan?" Mayura asked, very concerned for the girl who was like a little sister to her.

"There's something strange that's been going on," she started. Students of classroom B-3 moved to their desks and took a seat when the appearance of their teacher alerted them to settle down. The man was tall, of lean build, wearing a white button up shirt beneath the dark gray coat with black slacks--Enjaku's required uniforms for students and teachers, but girls wore skirts of course. His violet hair was long, down to his neck with bangs covering his mysterious right eye but his visible, brown eye was mesmerizing.

He noticed the female student who was not part of his class and coughed, "Hel-chan, classes will be starting in a few minutes. I suggest you return to your own classroom."

"Ah, yes, Higashiyama-sensei," she blushed, eliciting some snickers about the room. It was obvious of the girl's crush on the handsome, brood-like man. "Senpai, please stop by the library later today," she whispered quickly to Mayura and bowed to the teacher before leaving.

"Wonder what's up with her," Narugami said between the chewing.

Then a dryboard eraser smacked him in between his eyes. "Narugami, quit eating in my classroom!" Higashiyama growled, "This isn't lunchtime!"

"S-sorry, sensei..."

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY LOGO fade ~ * ~**

That afternoon, Mayura was making her way over to the Niflheim Library, the campus library named after the family who generously donated to its construction and collection of books and art. It was as grand as everything else on the academy and could almost rival that of the performance theater center. The library usually stayed open late at night, mainly for procrastinating students, and this was also where Hel-chan worked a few days each week. No surprise for the book fanatic.

It was one of those days that everyone but Mayura was busy, so the Mystery Club's first offical meeting couldn't be held till later that week. Narugami had last minute kendo practice, and Yamino had to prepare for an exam. Kakinouchi was no where to be found, but most likely he was flirting with the members of the Cooking Club.

So besides complying with Hel-chan's request to see her after school, Mayura thought some girl friendship time was in order. She had been busy getting her club together that she didn't mean to neglect the lonely girl.

She made her to the European decored lobby on the first floor, passing through the main entrance then two more sections of glass panels that automatically slid open--thanks to the added convenience of modern technology. She looked around for her friend, which was quite strange not to find her a the reception desk where she was usually stationed during the day. When Hel-chan worked evening shifts, she would be given the job of organizing books and returning them to the proper shelves. Maybe that was what she was doing today, so she decided to walk around, searching for the shy librarian.

The Niflheim Library actually had a total of four floors: three were above ground level and one below, where Enjaku historical records were stored for public access. Mayura was by the elevators, waiting for the compartment to come down, and any second now, it would be here. She absentmindedly tapped her foot in silence, wondering what could possibly had bothered Hel-chan that morning.

It was in the next few seconds, as if time had slowed, the doors to the left of the elevators exploded open, and a tear-eyed Hel-chan flew out and collided into the older girl. "Senpai!" she cried and hugged her, "The archives are haunted!"

Mayura's eyes grew huge like saucers, followed by an excited smile, "This sounds like a case for the Mystery Club!"

Hel-chan's lips were quivering, "Senpai, please don't say cheesy lines at a time like this."


	3. Quenchable Rumors!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Three: Quenchable Rumors! Punish the Naughty!**

"This sounds like a case for the Mystery Club!" Mayura announced, punching her fist into the air with excitement much to the dismay of the other students nearby who forced a hushed finger in her direction.

Slightly embarrassed, Hel-chan wiped the sweatdrop threatening her head away, "Senpai, there's no time for cheesy lines."

"Sorry," she giggled and stood up, gathering great determination to face whatever it was they were about to face. Since the stupid elevator never came, she decided to take the stairway down to the basement archives, but Hel-chan pulled her back by the arm, shaking her head.

"No, senpai! It's too dangerous! The books started falling and some were thrown across the room! I... I thought I could handle it and tried to tell them to stop but they got angrier."

Mayura patted her friend's arm with assurance, "It's ok, Hel-chan. We'll just have to get the boys here and attack together!" She pulled out her cell phone from her schoolbag and began texting ther other members of the club. When her task was done, she was scarily overconfident of the situation, "They'll be here any minute now!"

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo swoosh ~ * ~**

So like two hours later, Hel-chan, seated on the floor on a plaid picnic blanket, was sipping a cup of hot tea and reading a book, while a very huffy, puffy Mayura paced in front of the younger girl. Some noise grabbed their attention, and it was the appearance of Narugami and Yamino running as if their life depended on it, with an irritated Kakinouchi in tow. The boys with the exclusion of the blonde were about to apologize when they noticed something different about their club president.

Mayura had a hand on her hip, tapping her foot sternly, while in her other hand was a _haraegushi_, a wand with streams of paper at one end, leaning on her left shoulder. She was wearing a white kimono with a pair of deep red hakama, and their jaws dropped to the floor, including Kakinouchi's. He was the one to recover first, coughing to hide is blush at seeing the pink-haired girl so elegant and beautiful as a Shinto miko.

"Wow, Daidouji," Narugami tugged on the hakama, "I didn't know you had this priestess getup."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Of course, my papa is a Shinto priest. But anyway, what took you guys so long! This is a club emergency!"

"Uh well, I sorta fell asleep," the swordsman sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

Yamino apologized, "I'm sorry, Mayura-kaichou, I left the phone in my room when I was preoccupied... elsewhere." No one but Hel-chan noticed the pause in the statement, causing her eyebrows rise curiously.

Everyone turned to Kakinouchi for his explanation in which he just replied with, "I just didn't answer."

Narugami glared at him, "I had to drag him away from his girl chasing."

"I was merely socializing!"

"Tell that to your collection of girl photos!" he shouted, pointing the bokken at the young man's phone.

"Hey!" came Mayura's voice and the haraegushi in between the two butting heads, "This is a serious matter." The two blinked at her, thinking this was so bad joke the girl was playing on them, because Daidouji Mayura was never serious, or at least they like to think so since her childish mystery obsession could hardly be classified as _serious_.

Hel-chan stepped up to them, looking very worried and apologetic, "I'm sorry to pull you into this, but lately there have been strange things happening in the archives. I don't know who else to turn to but you guys."

"Well if it is cute Hel-chan needing help," the playboy started, "then I can't deny a lady in distress."

"Tch, womanizer," Narugami grumbled, earning him a glare from said guy.

"Ok since that's settle, let's get to work," Mayura snapped her fingers, "Yamino-senpai!"

"Yes, Mayura-kaichou!" he saluted, holding a video camcorder in one hand.

"Hel-chan!" At the sound of her name, the girl wielded a red parasol that um, appeared out of nowhere--a mystery, like that of Narugami's blackhole called a stomach, that Mayura decided not to pursue either.

"Narugami-kun!" The said boy readied his natural weapon of choice that never leaves his side.

"Kakinouchi-kun!"

"Can we just get this over with?!"

"Right!"

A determined Mayura pushed the door to the staircase aside and marched to their destination, followed by her scraggly gathered club members. They slowly inched up to the doors leading to the library archives and pressed their ears against, straining to make out any commotion from within, but all seemed to be quiet. The club president peeked her head inside and looked around, then Hel-chan's head appeared above hers... followed by Yamino then Narugami... And with a swift move, Kakinouchi kicked everyone inside, creating a pile of Mystery Club members.

"Hm, this looks normal," the pink-haired teen remarked, still on the floor. Everyone else was getting to their feet and assessed the same situation.

"B-but it was a mess earlier!" Hel-chan was certain. Nothing looked out of place, not even a single chair was pulled out, but hours ago, books were all over the floor, sheets of paper scattered, shelves toppling on each other. It had been a librarian nightmare.

Yamino placed a hand on his sister's shoulder, comforting her, "We believe you, Hel-chan."

"Of course!" Mayura agreed. "Now let's look around." The group decided to split up into two teams: Mayura and Narugami, and Yamino, Hel-chan, and Kakinouchi--since the two hotheaded boys, Narugami and Kakinouchi, had to be separated. "Scream if you find anything," their president smiled.

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo dice ~ * ~**

Mayura and Narugami walked at a normal pace, erect postures, straight faces, as if they were not scared of anything in the world and confident in their own abilities. They took each aisle of the western wing one by one, waiting a few moments for each to see if anything out of the ordinary took place, and when none did, they proceeded to the next one.

"Hey Daidouji."

"Yes?"

"Have you seen a ghost before?"

"Once when I was eight. Why do you ask?"

"Was it ugly?"

"No, it was a cute little puppy. Why?"

"'Cause this one sure is."

She turned around to find Narugami had smacked the wooden blade against the face of the said sobbing, overweight ghost following them. "Heeelp mee~!" the snot dribbling apparition cried, "Please! I'm in so much trouble!" He clung to the bokken as the owner of the weapon tried to shake him off.

"Wow, my first human-like ghost!" the girl shouted with glee and peered up close at the phenomenon, "Are you the ghost that's been haunting the archives and scaring poor Hel-chan?!"

"N-no, that's not me! It's the other guys, they've been bullying me here ever since!" he continued to sob, "I j-just wanted to finish my senior thesis paper to graduate!"

"It's a bit late for that," Narugami rolled his eyes.

That was when they heard Hel-chan's scream, and Narugami rushed to the other side, followed by Mayura who was pulling on an unwilling ghost. They ran as fast as their teenaged bodies could, which was a mere 50 seconds, to the source of all the commotion. What the pair found was truly unspeakable!

The three member of the Mystery Club were cornered, with Hel-chan in front protecting them with her opened parasol as shield. Three more ghosts were harrassing them like big kids bullying smaller, weaker kids on the playground, resorting to making childish demon faces at them.

"HEY! YOU horrible ghosts!" Mayura charged at them with the haraegushi in her hand and whacked it at one of them, "Stop messing around with people!"

"You brought reinforcements, fatty!" another cried accusingly, causing the scared ghost to hide behind Narugami.

"Oh be quiet you!" the older girl admonished, "Didn't your mother teach you to be nice to others?! Even in death!"

"NO!" the three naughty spirits shouted, and being outnumbered, they gathered themselves together into one big ass ghost and started a rampage through the archives, knocking shelves down and throwing books around and at the humans who invaded their territory. Pages ripped from the books became sharp edges and attacked the students. Narugami sliced them with his bokken while Mayura managed to swap them out of her way.

But Hel-chan... Her parasol dropped to her side, while Yamino and Kakinouchi reeled in horror. Several dozens of evil pages were floating in the air, prepared to dice them to bits, but the two young men were not afraid of that. No, they were frightened by the immense red aura that was radiating from Hel-chan.

Oh she was thoroughly pissed.

The huge ghost had destroyed her precious books!

"H-how dare y-you..." she growled and lashed out, "HOW DARE YOU RUIN MY BOOKS!" She tightened her grip on the parasol, and her aura flared up, like she was going into super saiyajin mode. After the boost of energy, she charged at the thing and jumped into the air to bring down her weapon of choice upon an unsuspecting ghost's head. Tangible upon intangible, the parasol cracked the huge ghost back into three smaller forms, who immediately begged for their lives--err what was left of their lives in spirit form.

"Please spare us!"

"We'll do anything, oh great powerful one!"

Hel-chan, towering over them with a dark aura, let out a soft, dangerous chuckle that sent her male companions shuddering, "Anything?" Mayura watched in amazement while everyone else--alive and dead--noticed the evil glint that flashed from her round glasses.

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo zigzag ~ * ~**

And in the next hour, Hel-chan was overlooking the progress of the four ghosts to clean up the mess and trouble they had caused in the archives. She had her parasol in hand, tapping it in the palm of her other hand like a very strict teacher watching the deliquents of her class carry out their punishment. Her male club members watched in pity for the poor souls, to have to endure the young girl's wrath.

Although it wasn't that serious but it was their first case, Mayura seemed satisfied and said thoughtfully, "I guess that's case closed!"

Kakinouchi slapped a hand to his face and groaned, while Yamino gasped, "Oh no, during the commotion, I broke the camcorder!"

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo wave ~ * ~**

"Hey!" shouted a very annoyed and sleepy Kakinouchi, who was being dragged off by Mayura, "What are we doing here on a Saturday?!" The other members of the Mystery Club were following them to the administrative building.

Mayura waved a scolding finger at the blonde, "We have to report what happened last night! And don't you guys want to see our new club room?"

"What's it doing all the way over here?" Narugami asked, carrying his bokken over his right shoulder with a bag of his bribed food dangling from it. No one noticed the nervous glances that Yamino and Hel-chan were sharing.

This actually piqued Kakinouchi's curiosity, so he was no longer dragged but walked side by side with their insane club president. He asked her, "How did you manage to get any support anyway? I'm pretty sure all the teachers thought you were crazy to push for this club."

She puffed up her cheeks at the insult, "The chancellor didn't think so! He's supporting me 100% AND lending me his office for our club room!" Narugami and Kakinouchi abruptly stopped at the newly revealed information, causing the siblings to stop right behind them.

"A-are you serious?!" The kendou boy questioned, "Why would the most powerful man on campus bother with a measly club like ours?!"

"No one's ever seen the man before!" the blonde, rich boy rubbed his chin, looking very interested, "This is a chance to find out if the rumors are true."

"Rumors? What rumors?" Mayura asked.

"You don't know? Since no one's ever seen him and there aren't any photos of him, they say the chancellor is like over 100 years old!" Yamino and Hel-chan choked on their breathing while a fascinated Mayura had no idea that had been circling around campus, and Kakinouchi continued, "Some also say he's actually a vampire! Only going out at night and sleeps during the day!

"Others believe he has a secret laboratory underneath the administrative building where he conducts his heinous experiments on students, after kidnapping them!"

Yamino and Hel-chan sweatdropped at the ludicrous rumors that students could even imagine. People need to find a hobby or something and stop watching so much horror movies.

"There's one that says the chancellor died from an assassination and every night when there's a full moon, he comes back from the grave... as a zombie!"

"Kyaa! No way!" Mayura gushed excitedly, not realizing that she had seen the chancellor on two ocassions. Her imagination got the best of her. Several images of Loki swirled in her head: Loki as a sexy vampire dressed in all black smiling with fangs poking out; Loki as a sexy mad scientist in a white labcoat grinning with evil intentions; Loki lying sexily in a pool of his blood, the life draining out of him, but then he rose to his feet and winked.

"Mayura-kaichou," Yamino called softly, as they watched her still dazed in her thoughts, "She is really thinking crazy thoughts."

"Senpai," Hel-chan sighed, "you've already met the chancellor though."

* * *

***** Haraegushi, meaning _lightning wand_, is used in Shinto rituals and named for its zig-zag shide paper attached to a wand.

**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**

I'm not that satisfied with the middle of the chapter, but I forced myself through it. Anyway, I think it'll be more fun after this, especially when Loki gets involved. More Kazumi/Heimdall soon too! =D And I still am working on _Love Me and More_!


	4. News Flash!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Four: News Flash! Investigate Suspicious Things!**

Mayura, bursting with energy, threw open the expensive-looking doors, and with super, unexplanable speed, she appeared at the desk, slamming her hands on top for great emphasis on what she was about to let loose from her mouth. She had one goal in mind and that was for her target, who was certainly amused by the girl's sudden appearance.

"Loki-sama! Are you really a vampire?!"

The Mystery Club members, who had followed into the office right behind her, fell over at the silly question.

She looked at him suspiciously, "You certainly don't look over 100 years old..." The oh so sexy man threw his head back and laughed, earning serious glares from the pink-haired girl, "Mou, don't ignore me, Loki-sama!"

He calmed down but his green eyes were still filled with mirth, and he leaned casually against the armrest. A smirk graced his lips as he spoke, "What if I told you it's a secret?"

Her brows furrowed into deep thought, "No fair!"

He reached a hand out and patted her on the head, much to her chagrin. He noticed the other visitors too and waved them forward. Narugami nervously stepped forward, feeling great intimidation from the head of the academy, while Kakinouchi was just the opposite, remaining calm yet curious as to who this mysterious man was.

"Ah, Yamino. Hel-chan," he smiled affectionately in their direction. The girl bounced over to his side and hugged him, and her brother bowed shyly.

Mayura, Narugami and Kakinouchi were stunned at the intimate scene, and the swordsman asked, "You guys all know each other?"

Hel-chan straightened her posture and nodded, "Loki-sama is our father!"

"Whaa, no way!" came out of Mayura's mouth, "That would mean he would've had you when he was like eight years old! That's impossible... unless..." She pointed at Loki, "You were abducted by aliens for years!"

The man could barely contain another fit of laughter, but Yamino explained, "That's not quite right, Mayura-kaichou. What Hel-chan means is we were adopted by Loki-sama."

Kakinouchi did his famous thinking pose, rubbing his chin, "Ho~ this is some news. So our chancellor is a handsome, young man (not as handsome as me that is) with two adopted children who attend the academy. This will cause a ruckus on campus."

"Ah K-Kakinouchi-senpai," Hel-chan called, "please don't tell others about this."

Yamino nodded, "If people find out, it will be too much for Loki-sama and Hel-chan. They won't hear the end of it."

"Yeah, that's not good for them," Narugami, after letting the information sink, agreed with the siblings, "Imagine the chaos it'll cause."

"And let me add," Loki finally spoke up about the situation, staring with cold, warning eyes--a sudden change in demeanor--at the certain blonde student, "that you don't want any opposition from me, Kakinouchi-kun. I know your family very well, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to disappoint them in any way possible."

The boy sweatdropped at the threat, noticing that evil glint in the older man's eyes, "Eh... of course not. I-I understand."

"Good," he returned to his casual, friendly manner and turned his attention to the quiet Mayura, "Now how is my favorite club doing?" They related to him on the occurrences that transpire from the night before and how they solved it--although the archives were still haunted, Hel-chan had it under control now with her parasol of doom. And the freshman earned a nice pat on the head for a job well done.

"I must commend you on your leadership, Mayura-chan."

Her eyes became sparkly from the compliment, and she gushed with pride and joy, "Thank you, Loki-sama!"

"And since you all are present," he reached for something in the desk drawer to his right and pulled out a sheet of paper, "I'd like you to look into this matter." He gave the paper to Mayura, who blinked at it, as he continued to speak, "Our annual cherry blossom festival will be held in a week, but recently there has been strange sightings around campus."

Narugami and Kakinouchi both peered over the president's shoulders with unusual interest, and Loki noticed how closed they were to her and frowned slightly. Mayura noted the key details on the paper, "Lurking shadows and scary growls, around midnight, mainly around the campus park. That's where most of the cherry blossom trees are."

"The festival is held well into the night," Yamino stated.

"That would be dangerous if this thing decides to become violent," Hel-chan added.

"What do you say, kaichou?" Loki waited for her answer and wasn't disappointed.

"I accept!" she declared, leaning on his desk with her left fist clenched with great determination, and the sexy chancellor shifted in her direction and clasped his hands over her fist, giving her a charming smile. Hel-chan nearly swooned at her father's initiative while Yamino sweatdropped, leaving the other two boys with dropped jaws. It seemed Mayura was the only one oblivious to the older man's affections.

With her free hand, she patted his own for reassurance, mistaking his actions as worry, and smiled cluelessly, "Don't worry, Loki-sama, we will solve the mystery for you! And bring peace and happiness to the student body so they can enjoy their youth during this spring season!"

Her obliviousness was so endearing to him, that he couldn't help but chuckle, "I will have to reward _you_ when this is over."

Narugami suddenly brightened at those words, "Oh! You can treat us to dinner!"

Loki gave him the 'what the hell are you still doing here' look and was disappointed when Mayura pulled back from his hold. He resigned back in his comfortable seat and watched the scene unfold before him, between the club members. It was nothing great, they just decided to take the next few hours to investigate the area for clues and maybe return later at midnight to further their inquiry.

After agreeing on that plan, they all turned to Loki and bowed, excusing themselves from his office. Hel-chan let the others go ahead of her and remained a few minutes to speak with the older man. "You look very happy, Hel-chan," he remarked at her bright face.

She nodded, "Yes, otou-san, I like being around my friends, especially Mayura-senpai. She makes everything fun and exciting. I never know what to expect from her, so I'm always eager to see what happens next."

He laughed in agreement, "She's very special, indeed."

"Otou-san really likes senpai," she giggled.

"Hel-chan~!" Mayura called, waving to the younger girl, "Coming?"

"Yes, senpai!" she gave her father one last smile and bounced after her friends.

"Hm, I do," he admitted to the empty room, "She makes my children happy."

**~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo dance ~ * ~**

The Mystery Club was walking back across campus again, much to Kakinouchi's dismay and Narugami's growling stomach, so they had to change their plans. They haven't had lunch yet either so Mayura and Hel-chan were giving Kakinouchi big, innocent, puppy-dog eyes, and who could say no to such adorable girls? Even Narugami was giving him that same look, but that just pushed him over the edge.

"Fine, I'll buy lunch," he gave in and smacked Narugami's head, "Quit that fool, you're creeping me out!"

"Free food, free food!" the brunette chirped happily like a little girl, skipping after their female companions. Yamino shrugged and followed them, leaving the blonde to sulk after them.

So the afternoon was wasted upon food and not the investigation, not that anyone minded when Kakinouchi was the one treating them. Hey, the guy was rich after all! And he, being such a gentleman (even if his hobby was _womanizing_ according to Narugami), could not let women, even the weird Mayura, go hungry.

The group settled on meeting again that night at the park entrance, so flash forward to a quarter till midnight (because nothing else interesting happened that afternoon), and of course Mayura was the first on the scene, followed the siblings and Narugami. Kakinouchi never showed up nor answered his phone, so they gave up and started the investigation without him.

It was a very dark and spooky night, the moon was hidden behind the flurry of clouds and seldom peeked through, but they had flashlights to guide them through the park. Yamino wasn't able to fix the camcordered nor find a replacement yet, so he settled with a digital camera for now. Narugami was yawning the whole time and earning hushes from Mayura for his noisiness.

"I'm getting sleepy," he whined, "and hungry."

"When are you not hungry," she sighed.

Yamino stopped them, "Did you guys hear that?" Hel-chan hid behind her brother, as they remained still and listened. They definitely heard the wind and strained the ears some more.

Faint growls!

Getting louder!

Footsteps!

Running closer!

The shadows of the trees danced around them, everywhere, like they were closing in on the group. Narugami started swinging the bokken at the strange shadows but hitting nothing. Hel-chan was getting scared--this was was worse than the library. She screamed when something fell on her shoulder, which was just a twig, and ran blindly into the darkness, ignoring the cries from her brother and Mayura, but Yamino immediately ran after her.

Mayura looked back for Narugami, but he was nowhere to be found. She called out his name, wondering nervously if she should find him or go after Hel-chan and Yamino or stay in that spot till they returned. She heard the growling again, so close... like from behind! The fear trickled down her spine, and she ran!

She had no idea where she was running to, but she ran. She could feel the great presence right behind her, chasing her. For the first time in her life, she was scared, scared to be eaten! And she forgot her haraegushi in her room, or else she could try to face it!

Ah, she could almost feel the heaviness of the darkness on her skin. She shut her eyes tightly and kept running. She ran so fast (that the track team should consider recruiting her) she thought her legs would give out from under her, but whatever the thing that was chasing her seemed so far away now yet her feet kept running... until she slammed into something.

That something made a noise, and both fell to the ground. She opened her eyes and adjusted her vision on the person beneath her. "Loki-sama!" she cried, relieved that it wasn't an evil monster wanting to eat her (which naughty author won't comment on, ahem), but they were in a very inappropriate position, not that he minded: he was on his back underneath her, she on all fours, her left knee in between his legs and her hands on either side of his head to prop herself up.

"Loki-sama, what are you doing here?" she asked, clueless to their current position.

He was smiling, god, smiling very smuggly at all the thoughts that went through his mind as to what he could do at that moment. They were in the middle of the park at night and no one was around (except his two children and a hungry swordsman). His hand reached up to her face and caressed her cheeks, slowly moving down her neck, "I was looking for you."

"Oh," she, ignoring his touch, was about to get up, but his other hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her on top of him. She yelped in surprised as he rolled her onto her back, "Loki-sama, this is no time to be playing games. There's something out there, and we need to find Hel-chan and the others."

"They can take care of themselves," he said huskily, leaning down to her neck, "I know my kids."

"Loki-sama! What are you doing? Are you drunk?" she tried to push him off her, but he was quite heavy. "You are drunk, aren't you! Adults, geez!" She started rambling about how adults should be more responsible and he was lucky that it wasn't a school night!

"Hey, what's going on?!" came a familiar voice. Both looked over to the owner of the voice--well, Loki could see right-side up, but Mayura saw him upside-down, and it was Kakinouchi interrupting a midnight affair.

Mayura's instincts kicked in, and she shoved Loki to the side and stood up, "What are you doing here, Kakinouchi-kun? I thought you weren't coming." Oh, how disappointed Loki was, and he sent a glare in the intruder's direction, not that anyone noticed.

"Oh sorry, I was running a bit late from my date," he explained, "so I came in from here. We never did decide on which of the four entrance to meet at." He finally acknowledged the suspicious chancellor, "So where is everyone else?"

"Um, things happened, and we got separated."

He eyed the man, "And what is Loki-san doing here?"

"Out for a stroll," he shrugged, earning disbelieving looks from the young man.

"Anyway, since Loki-sama is here," Mayura intervened their glaring contest, "he can help us find the others too." She motioned for the two to follow her as they returned to the depths of park, filled with mysterious, ominous trees!

* * *

Finally updated! I've been a little busy with another MayuLoki story, a bit more dark than the current ones. I want to try to finish it before posting it up. Currently on chapter five. =P


	5. Hunger Strikes!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Five: Hunger Strikes! The Five Step Plan?**

"We have to find the others!" Mayura was determined to find her friends. They better not be harmed by some unknown thing or whatever it was out there was going to pay for hurting them! She loved mysteries but her friends were more important.

Loki and Kakinouchi were silently following behind her, and the latter kept glancing over to the older man, wondering that his intentions with the club president were. Something had to be up, no one in their right mind would find Mayura, the epitome of all weirdness and cluelessness, attractive! Yeah, sure she wasn't ugly, and like hell would he tell the girl she was pretty, but she had zero sex appeal. ZERO.

Hm, well her ass wasn't unpleasant to look at, even in the school uniform. She did have nice, long legs. Oh my god, was he staring at her?!

"I suggest you remove your eyes from there," came the quiet, dangerously serious voice beside him.

Oh crap, he was caught!

"What?! I don't know what you're talking about!" he grumbled and walked hastily by a confused Mayura.

"Don't go too far, Kakinouchi-kun!" she warned in a motherly tone, like he was a little kid, "I don't want to lose you too."

"Shut up," he blushed.

"What's wrong with him? Geez, he's being a brat tonight," she remarked in her spot, with both hands on her hips.

"Don't mind him," Loki urged, putting a hand on her head and giving her a pat. She made an annoyed expression, a bit tired of being treated like a child from him. He was leaning close to her and whispered smuggly, "Older men have more experience."

She looked adorable when her brows furrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about, Loki-sama? You may have more experience, but you can be so irresponsible. You can't be carefree in your important position! Everyone depends on you." She was actually scolding him and was completely unaware of the real meaning behind his words.

Yes, she was quite adorable. So adorable that he could kiss her right now. He was so close to her, a few more inches, closing the distance between them.

A horrified cry destroyed that plan.

Mayura snapped her head away and started running towards the plea for help, very much to Loki's dismay. Someone was going to die that night--if not, get hurt very badly. He quickly ran after her, not wanting any harm upon her either, and what they found was a certain Kakinouchi sitting at the bottom of a deep ditch.

"Hm, I must have forgotten to mention," Loki started, looking very devious, "part of the park is closed due to construction."

"Just get me out of here!"

"Ok ok," Mayura said and got on the ground, extendind her hand down to him. Even with him trying to jump up, their hands barely brushed each other. He tried climbing up a bit then grabbed hold of her hand, but he was still heavy for her to pull up alone, so Loki had no choice but to help them. After getting the rich boy out of the hole, the three were still on the ground, resting. No one said anything for a while, not even a word of appreciation from the embarrassed Kakinouchi yet.

"You're so heavy!" the girl complained, rubbing her aching arm from having to pull the blonde dead weight. Before either of the males could say a word--Kakinouchi with a snappy remark to the insult or Loki with a witty follow up--another group finally arrived at the scene: Hel-chan sniffling while holding Yamino's arm, Narugami looked like he was dying... from hunger, and Higashiyama leading the group with a flashlight.

"Loki? What the hell are you doing here?!" the tall, dark, handsome teacher demanded.

"None of your business," the man retorted.

"Sensei! You and Loki-sama know each other?!" Mayura asked amazed, having forgotten completely about their situation and the case they were to investigate.

"Never mind that," their teacher waved off the unnecessary history, which would later be explained but not at this moment because there were more important things to deal with like four students out in the dark, way pass their curfew. "What I want now is for the four of you to get back to your rooms this instant!" he demanded. "There's a reason this academy has rules, and since this is your first time breaking curfew, I will let you go with a warning."

"But sensei!" Mayura started.

"No but's! Now march!"

She pouted while the rest of her club members had already resigned for the night. It was way late, and they did have classes in the morning, so perhaps tomorrow night, the girl reasoned. She would have to come up with a plan.

****

~ * ~ ENJAKU PRIVATE ACADEMY logo blast ~ * ~

And so the next night came, and Mayura had a plan. Sort of. Part one of that plan was to sneak out of the dormitory. "Check," she noted to herself as she squatted behind a bush right outside her dorm buidling, completely dressed in black, like a ninja on a mission. Although she should have done something about her long, PINK hair that draped loosely down her back, beneath the black hood covering her head.

She was deeply focused on her plan's checklist, where step two was next: gather members. Unfortunately, three names were crossed off her list already.

Kakinouchi, once again, did not reply to her calls nor text messages. She couldn't tell if he was purposely ignoring her or had fallen asleep or was busy with who knows what. The next time he was around she would make him treat her to lunch and order everything on the menu! That would teach him to stand up a girl! And he called himself a gentleman!

Yamino, on the other hand, was swamped with his exams and essay papers, and had profusely apologized so many times that Mayura could still hear his voice in the back of her head, promising to make it up to her afterwards. She could almost imagine him bowing at her feet, with his head hitting the ground, and she shook her head at how sweet and polite he was.

Hel-chan, after the previous night, was definitely not going to attend the night's mission. The poor girl was so scared, and Mayura felt so guilty for dragging her into such dangerous situations, having forgotten how the library incident ended. She was a fragile girl who had to be protected, and Mayura promised that nothing will dare harm her young friend and sister as long as she was still breathing!

She swore upon the bentou box sitting on the ground.

In the next second, the checklist was tucked away into some dark abyss of her black outfit called a pocket, and she grabbed the box of delicious edibles and made a dash across the residential grounds, towards the spooky park.

If there was an award for the crappiest ninja in all of history, Mayura would win, hands down. Not a single cloud in the sky, and the moon was bright and full, and not to mention, the lit lamp posts along the sidewalks. Yes, anyone awake, at that crazy hour of twilight, could easily spot a dark cladded person jogging down the walkway.

She safely made it to one of the park entrances, where Narugami was waiting for her. He seemed to be immersed with something on the ground, moving his bokken across the dirt, but when he saw Mayura approaching, he quickly stood up and kicked the ground a few times, in an attempt to destroy any evidence of his activity. It was obvious enough that the girl had to question, "What was that?"

"N-nothing!" he denied and reached for the bentou box that had his name on it, but she slapped his hand away. "Whaa, I'm hungry!"

"This isn't for you, Narugami-kun."

"Why not!" he whined and pouted, "I'm hungry! And you promised me food if I came out tonight!"

"You'll get it, just not tonight." She started walking into the park while revealing the plan, "This is to lure out the monster."

The young man followed her, saddened that he wasn't going to eat the yummy food. He looked like a really sad puppy, with his ears drooped down, and a tear hanging from his round eyes. But then it hit him: what if he beat the monster before it could touch his food, then he could get it afterwards! It would be like a reward! And maybe Mayura would give him more food too!

Narugami's puppy ears popped up happily and his puppy tail was wagging happily at the idea, and he was set on his own plan!

So the two managed to make it to the spot they had separately the other night. Not sure how they could tell it was the right spot, but to them, it was. Mayura then laid the box of food, opened, in a clearing, while Narugami watched on sadly at his future reward. After the bait was set, the two hid behind a group of cherry blossom trees and waited.

A few minutes went by, and the wind picked up, rustling through the trees. They could hear something breathing heavily, followed by growling and movements. The sounds started out slow and distant and soon came closer and closer. Narugami was determined, with bokken in hand, and knelt in a position, ready to ambush the montster.

Suddenly, the air around the two knocked them to the ground. The atmosphere was very strong and heavy, nothing they had been prepared for. Along with the ominous pressure, a gigantic shadow, darker than night, flew over them, right pass them, and then away from them.

"NOOOOO!" Narugami cried and sprinted out to the clearing in hope of saving his bentou box. So much adrenaline was pumping through his body in those few seconds that he somehow managed to scoop up the precious box into his arms. He was so happy and hugged it.

"Narugami! Watch out!"

Just as he turned towards Mayura's warning voice, the black shadow smashed into him, knocking him off his feet, and then bounced ten meters away. Narugami, with the box tucked under one arm and the bokken gripped in the other hand, stood up and was prepared to defend what was rightful his. Mayura caught up to his side just as the huge shadow slowly formed into something more tangible in appearance: just a giant, black, shadow wolf-like monster towering many times over them. Its size was one thing, but the red, evil-looking eyes and the saliva dripping through the the twenty-something sharp teeth didn't help the situation either.

"Um, I think we need more people for this," Mayura whispered.

"It's a bit late for that," her partner replied. "So what's the plan?"

"Step five..." With unexplanable, lightning speed, Mayura ripped the black clothing off her body to reveal her miko robes. Too bad she didn't get a magical transformation, but that was close enough. "Beat the crap out of the monster!" she announced, pointing the haraegushi--that came out from who knows where--at the shadow wolf.

The creature roared at them, scaring the two.

"Omigod, I don't want to die!" They started running just as it lept after them.

Well, their speed sucked. They didn't even make the ten meter mark when the shadow pounced on them, but they managed to elude its grasp, with Mayura falling to one side while Narugami tumbling to the other. Both quickly got to their feet, but the monster ignored the girl completely and started swinging its paws at Narugami instead.

The boy was able to evade the attacks while still trying to get away. It then jumped over him and blocked his path, and every time Narugami darted in a different direction, it would appear in his way and move closer and closer to him. There was no escape for him, as it raised its paw and slammed it down. Mayura, unsure of what to do, ran towards him, screaming his name.

Shadow paw met wooden bokken! A battle of power began, but Narugami was losing badly. He could be crushed any second now. If only he'd let go of the damn bentou box and grip the weapon with both hands to push the monster back. At this rate, both he and the box would get destroyed, so without another thought, he dropped the box and held the bokken with two hands. The strength of both was enough to push the paw off him.

As soon as the paw was shoved back, the other paw smacked Narugami aside. The surprised boy landed a few meters away and tried to hurry to his feet before he was attacked again, but when he stood up, nothing came at him.

Mayura had stopped and watched the large shadow loom over the fallen bentou box with much eagerness. It carefully sniffed the box and started drooling again, Narugami started running towards it, demanding it to not touch his food. It growled in response to the boy's demands and put its paws down, around it in protection.

Narugami stopped at the paws and started hitting them with the bokken. Mayura walked up to them, giving her partner the dry look, as if his attacks were going to do anything to it. The paw barely moved but flicked the pesky boy aside again.

"Hm, so I guess you were REALLY hungry," Mayura surmised, rubbing her chin contemplatively. After it slurped up the food on the ground, its head nodded as if replying to her. "Wow," she said amazed, "and you understand me too!"

Another nod.

"Is that why you were chasing everyone? You just wanted to be fed?"

Another nod.

"Aaw, you poor thing!" she cooed and patted its giant paw laying in front of her. "Well if you stop scaring people and start behaving, then I'll make you some food too."

It roared, happily, but one couldn't really tell much difference, and as if that promise had appeased it, the giant shadow slowly dissipated into the air. Mayura, looking horrified, thought it was a animal ghost having had its last wish fulfilled was now going to heaven, "Rest in peace!"

Most of the shadow had disappeared, but a bit still remained at her feet in the small form of a black puppy, who barked up at her, wagging its tail. "Or not," she blinked and picked him up, "I guess you're not a ghost then. You're a boy puppy!" She checked the collar around its neck, "Fenrir?"

The boy puppy named Fenrir licked her face in reply.

"You're so cute!" she nuzzled her face against his dark fur, "Oh so cute! Isn't that right, Narugami-kun? Narugami-kun?" She looked over at her almost forgotten classmate, who stood like a blade of grass swaying in the wind. Worried, she walked over to him, "Narugami-kun? Hullo~?"

"Rest in peace, my bentou!" he sobbed and weeped on her shoulder.

"Oh geez, Narugami-kun! I'll make you another one! Just, just stop crying. Your tears are ruining my clothes. I only have one set of this! Narugami-kun! Narugami! Are you listening?!"


	6. Omake 1

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Random Omake: Property of Loki**

At the start of the beautiful morning, the soft chattering of students was quite normal. Only a few people were around at the moment because it was still an hour too early for classes to begin, so others took the chance to either grab breakfast, study or... sleep in for another thirty minutes.

In the case of Daidouji Mayura, it was different.

The flare of negative energy surged across campus, frightening several students and teachers, and sent papers and books AND people flying in the air. Never had anyone seen the girl so, so upset before, such an uncommon occurrence that had people scared and worried. They had also noted the fact that she was not wearing the usual uniform, but a pair of sky blue pajamas with white bunnies on it.

She was such an energetic yet slightly weird--beacuse of her crazy obsession with mysteries--girl, with a warm smile that could cheer anyone up, but at that moment, her ruby shaded eyes were glaring daggers at a particular door. Her chest was heaving in and out, as the deep breaths did nothing to appease her anger. Everything that morning was uncharacteristic of her, and even as she kicked the door down and forced to disgustingly step into the room to meet the bane of her existence.

"LO... KI..." she gritted out the two syllables of the name with much disdain, and not to forget with great sarcastic respect, she added, "-SA...MA..."

The good-looking, young man behind the desk just smiled, "Well good morning to you too, Mayura-chan!"

Every female on the campus--whether it was a young student or one of the older faculty members--would agree that this particular man was the sexist (human) being to grace the earth. Oh yes, he was just, oh so sexy. His personality was charming and seductive, and what an intelligent man! He could talk about anything and the knowledge and experience behind his mesmerizing, emerald eyes shone right through!

Such a handsome devil!

And to Mayura, he was just that: THE devil! The trickster devil!

"What is wrong with you!" she screeched and slammed her hands on his desk, disrupting the writing he was in the middle of. "And what the hell is this!" she pointed to the item that was slammed on to the wooden surface. It was a dark-colored pleated skirt that had some words stitched on it:

_'Property of Loki.'_

"Isn't this your skirt?" he inquired ever so innocently, attempting to charm her with his oh so sexy smile, which was a futile move on his part though.

"Yes, it is! But how am I supposed to wear something like this to class?!" His grin just grew wider, as he leaned his arm on the desk, resting his cheek on the palm of his hand, while watching her fury unfold. "This is the worst joke you've ever played! I can't believe you would do--nevermind, I believe you would do this!"

One thing that never occurred to her: how the hell did he get his hands on her clothing?! And that shall be another story all together.

"And do you know how expensive uniforms are?! I can't even afford another set!"

"Well why don't you just wear it then?"

She threw him an incredulous look, which was more like the 'wtf, have you been listening to me' look, and he truly wasn't listening to her. He was staring at what was peeking beneath her pajama top, where three of the buttons were left open. The view of her slender neck was very inviting, but her words brought him out of his fantasy, "And have people stare at my butt all day long?!"

Oh, and that was when his smile turned into a frown, and he mumbled under his breath, "Hmm, can't quite have them doing that now. It is my property, after all."

For his sake, Mayura had missed his comment and was rubbing the side her of temple with her left hand while still leaning on his desk with her other. She demanded, "You're going to fix this!"

"How so?" he inquired, inching closer to her till they were at least four inches apart.

"You'll pay for my new uniforms."

"That's very brave of you, Mayura-chan, to demand something from the academy chancellor."

"Well, you pretty much threw that chancellor-student relationship out the window on the first day," she waved it off as nothing, having already referred to him casually by his first name.

"Very well," he sighed, "I don't mind the reparations."

"Good, 'cause I have to get back and figure out what to wear before class starts!" She grabbed her skirt and spun on her heels towards the door, left wide opened because the actual door was still laying on the floor. She marched off, back through the admistration building and across campus, leaving a satisfied Loki smirking.

**~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~**

Lol, as the title says, it was a random piece that was written when I was brainstorming this story series.

Originally, it was written with Loki as an English teacher, but I fixed it so it would sorta make since in the storyline though I can't say when it takes place. I didn't plan to actually write it into the story either, so I decided to post it as an omake-like piece here to share with everyone.

Plus, to apologize for the long months of no updates! *bows deeply* Gomen nasai! ;_; I've been busy with work.


	7. Festival Time!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Six: Festival Time! What, No Mysteries?!**

He, Higashiyama Kazumi, did not know where to begin. He was a young, handsome man who unfortunately was still single, and here he was, wasting away his adult life as a teacher as some prestigious academy. What had possessed him to become a teacher anyway? All he had wanted to be was the greatest detective alive, to catch Loki in some criminal act to lock him away for life, then he could live freely and not be overshadowed by that evil, cunning man, who just happened to somehow conned him into becoming a teacher and working for his family!

"In the name of the... gerhgeigh... I'll punish yurgeih..."

The silly outburst interrupted Higashiyama's horrible flashback, and it earned Mayura a smack to the top of her head by a harisen*****.

"Ahh, two asari rice bowls****** please!"

THWACK!

Narugami earned the second hit.

Both students immediately woke up from their nap in the middle of class, completely baffled and dazed. The rest of the class snickered at their classmates' predicament, but the teacher's furious gaze told them to hush quickly or be punished with the two sleeping deliquents.

"I'm sorry, sensei, but it was such a long night!" Mayura tried to explain.

"Yeah, sensei," Narugami yawned, "It was tough too. That big monster almost ate us for dinner."

"Monster?" Oh, their teacher was not happy at that answer. "Didn't I tell you two to stop playing monster hunters?!"

"Actually, you told us to not break curfew," the girl corrected.

"Which you did!" he said, exasperated by how much trouble his two students were, and somehow he knew Loki was involved. He growled inwardly with great agony at the thought of Loki always torturing him in any way possible, even when he wasn't there!

His internal distraught and pain was so intense that he unkowingly released to his students the dark, deadly, killing aura he possessed.

"Omigawd, we are so sorry, sensei! Please forgive us!" everyone shouted in unison, and when their voices brought him back to reality, Higashiyama sweatdropped. The whole class was hiding under their desks, while a frantic Mayura was preventing Narugami from executing a _seppuku_*******.

Somehow, Mayura and Narugami managed to make it through the school day in one piece, and both were very thankful. They had just arrived to their club room, aka Chancellor Loki's grand office, but the said man in charge was no where in sight. Neither the other three club members were present either. Mayura looked at the clock, which indicated it was fifteen minutes after four. They were a bit late because she had to return to her dorm and sneak out Fenrir before heading to their club room, but she didn't think everyone would leave.

She walked over to the desk and peered down at the papers, wondering where they could be. On the other hand, Narugami made himself comfortable on the leather couch and pulled out his bentou box for a quick snack. At the sound of the cover coming off, Fenrir jumped out of Mayura's arm and hurried over to the young man who didn't want to share the food. After some growling and biting, he unwillingly shared.

Not another second late, Loki stepped through the doorway, with some documents in his hands. "You two just arrived?" he asked.

She nodded, "Where is everyone?"

He walked over to his desk, "I told them to have the rest of the week off."

"WHAT?! How could you, Loki-sama!" she demanded, slamming her hands onto his desk, which was becoming a habitual thing lately, "I know you're the advisor and all, but I am the president! I was going to tell them about the successful results of the mission."

Loki placed his papers down and rest his arms in front of him, leaning towards her with a smile, "As advisor, I deemed it necessary that everyone needed to rest and enjoy the festivities."

"But, but you gave us the assignment. I thought you wanted us to solve the mystery before the festival."

"And didn't you?"

"Umm... yes... but wait, how did you know?" Her hands were still on his desk, and she was tilted closer towards him with a serious expression, awaiting his answer. They were SO close that when some strands of her long hair fell from her shoulder, and he reached his fingers out and touched her hair, twirling it between his fingers. Then he took the ends of her hair and brushed it under his nose.

"Your hair smells like strawberries," he smiled.

"Yes, it's the shampoo--LOKI-SAMA, you're avoiding my question!"

He chuckled, "It's a secret."

"Mou! No fair, Loki-sama!" she pouted, "You know, it's unhealthy to have secrets!"

"Is that so?" He was still toying with her hair, which she seemed to just ignore because getting him to reveal his secrets was much more important.

"Umhmm!"

She waited... and waited... and waited. All he did was continue to play with her hair. She got the point that he wasn't going to reveal anything, not any time soon, and since everyone was ordered to take a break, she would do just that. She sure needed it too--the sleep, the homework that still needed to be done, and the letters from dad piling up in the corner of her room.

She sighed, pulling away from him, "Well I guess I do need that rest. I think you do too, Narugami-kun." When her friend didn't reply, she looked at him and found him sleeping away on the couch with Fenrir curled up into a ball on his chest, snoozing away too. Definitely an adorable sight to see.

"Aaw, so cute!" she squealed.

Next thing she knew, Narugami and Fenrir flew to the floor, and Loki was replacing the couch into its spot again as if nothing had happened. Mayura just blinked because it happened so fast that she didn't understand any of it, and Narugami was still dazed from the sudden attack, sitting on the floor. Fenrir recovered quicker and was on all fours and yawned cutely.

"Uh what happened?" the boy asked.

"I'm sure your bed will be more comfortable than my couch, Narugami-san," Loki spoke in an even tone, to hide his irritation that Mayura had found him cute.

Mayura helped her friend up, sighing, "You're such a handfull, Narugami-kun." They grabbed their things and headed for the doors. She glanced back at the puppy standing by Loki now, "Fen-chan, let's go!" When they walked through the doorway, Fenrir looked up at Loki and wagged his tail.

The handsome chancellor didn't take his eyes off the empty doorway but knew Fenrir was waiting for him. His expression softened a bit when he spoke again, "Keep an eye on her, Fenrir." The puppy barked in response to the command and rushed out of the office after the students.

So during the next few days, Mayura was able to get enough sleep and catch up on her studies and even found time to call her father. She figured one phone call was better than writing twenty letter responses. Her dad was overprotective and could be ridiculously so, almost to the point to enroll her in an all-girls private school until she brought up her mother's last wish.

Although those things went smoothly, having Fenrir around wasn't. The dormitories did not allow any pets, so it was becoming difficult to hide him, make him stay quiet, and feed him. Luckily the residential assistant was hardly around, though Mayura sometimes wondered where the woman disappeared to...

There was a knock on her door, and Mayura dropped the book she was reading and quickly snatched Fenrir from her bed and ran to the bathroom, which had become a habit now. She made sure he stayed quiet and closed the door before answering the visitor.

When she opened the door, she was surprised to see the woman with short blonde hair smiling at her, "Urd-sensei!"

Noruno Urd, residential assistant to girl's dormitory block C, was mysterious as the smile she was wearing, disappearing for days with unknown reasons and then suddenly reappearing without any notice. Rumors had it that she was a secret agent for the government to spy on people, or a hired mercenary to kill people overseas.

"Hello, Daidouji-san."

"Um what can I do for you?" she shifted nervously in the doorway.

"There's a package for you." Urd showed her a big pink box with a white ribbon tied around and handed it to a speechless Mayura. With her mission completed, she turned around and left, waving her off, "Don't forget about the cherry blossom festival tonight!"

Still quiet, the girl went into her room and closed the door. She put the box on her bed and stared at it, not noticing the bathroom door creaked open and Fenrir came out. He jumped on her bed and pawed at the box, gesturing for her to open it. So she did.

She found a kimono folded neatly in the box with other accessories. She took it out and laid it out on her bed, to admire the beautiful patterns. She was in awe at the sight, even though she had worn a few kimonos before but nothing as extravagant as the piece laying before her.

Fenrir poked his nose into the box and pulled out a piece of paper. He held it up to her, and she took it from him, reading the note: _'Wear it tonight. Love, Loki.'_

"WHAT?!"

All across campus that evening, the crowds of students and faculty members were gathered under the lovely pink blossoms of the _sakura_ trees. Many vendors of the local area were present along the walkways, selling many things from food to small trinkets and provided mini games as amusing diversions.

And here by the entrance of the park once more, the young men of the mystery club were waiting for the fashionably late girls, although Kakinouchi wasn't sure why he was with them when he had more attractive dates available. At that thought, the two girls arrived, and he realized why he had been waiting.

It was like a cliched scene out of a romance movie with sparkly lights around them as they're walking as slow as a limping turtle on a hot, desert day. Hel-chan was cute in her lavender kimono with white blossoms, and her hair was pulled to the right side in a loose braid. She was smiling and blushing when she the guys, especially Kakinouchi openly staring with mouth slightly agape. She felt giddy like a teenaged girl going on her first date--which was true on the teenage part.

Mayura, on the other hand, had donned on a pearly white kimono with sakura petals along the left side and fluttering across the bottom like the waves of the sea. Variations of pink added color and depth to lavish kimono, which didn't detract from her pink hair twisted into a bun and decorated with golden, floral clips. Loose strands framed her round face, giving her a more serene and elegant look, a complete opposite from the usual bubbly, hyperactive, mystery-obsessed Mayura.

Unlike the girls, the guys ended up wearing their academy uniforms because Yamino didn't want the hassle of a kimono just for one night, Kakinouchi knew girls preferred the male uniform over the kimono, and Narugami was just to poor to own one and had not been doing his laundry anyway.

"Sorry we're late!" the girl apologized excitedly, jogging the rest of the way towards them despite the wooden sandals she wore, "I thought there was another mystery, but it was only the drama club getting ready for a performance."

"It's okay. We weren't waiting long," Yamino spoke. "The two of you look beautiful tonight."

"Thank you, onii-san!" Hel-chan twirled around in her kimono happily, ecstatic to be a beautiful princess that evening. "Otou-san really knows how to pick them."

At the mention of Loki, Mayura and Kakinouchi coughed and looked elsewhere but a tint of pink was visible across their faces, but each had different reasons. He recalled the night incident when he caught Mayura and Loki in an intimate position and how he acted like a casanova--a perverted casanova in his mind--not realizing he himself was such a man.

Although to Mayura, Loki was just a weird, old man, not that he was that much older than her but old nonetheless, but she did love the kimono and was happy with that.

"Can we get something to eat now?!" Narugami whined. During that whole time, he was drooling at the delicious aroma all around him while on a tight leash held by sighing Yamino, who didn't want his friend causing a ruckus without supervision or eat himself into debt, that he somehow managed to avoid till now.

***** A _harisen_ is a giant paper fan.  
****** _Asari_ rice is a popular rice dish with manila clams.  
*********** A seppuku is a Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment.

* * *

Ah, I finally finished this chapter! I had a rough night trying to get the last part written, but a night's sleep rejuvenated me! I don't think it's as funny as a previous ones, but I did my best. Urd fans, there will be more of her in the next chapter, and it will be funny, lol. I can imagine it right now. Enjoy!


	8. Fun Times!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Seven: Fun Times! And Then There Are Mercenaries!**

The evening had just begun for Mayura and her crew of mystery misfits-a description the majority prefered not to be known as-consisting of: the super cute and smart Hel-chan; her older, smarter, shyer, quieter brother, Yamino; the flirty, wealthy, sanest but had no idea why he was spending the evening with a group of weirdos Kakinouchi; and last but not least, the infinitely famished...

"Hey guys," Yamino stopped in his track, halting the others, as all eyes turned onto him, "Have you seen Narugami-kun? He was just with us a moment ago..." He looked around, unsure of where the said young man could have disappeared to. The others seemed as baffled as he was.

Kakinouchi shrugged his shoulders and pointed out, "With all the food vendors out tonight, the meat-head could be enjoying their company."

"Which sounds like a great plan!" Mayura chirped happily, and with an index finger to her lips, she began to eye the nearby stands, "Now where to start?"

"Takoyaki!" Hel-chan suggested, pointing to the stall with a giant octopus mascot waving them over. The older girl nodded in agreement as both skipped as best they could wearing geta footwear. The two young men could only share an all-knowing glance with each other before following the female pair, and everyone had completely forgotten their bokken-wielding friend.

* * *

The said friend, Narugami, was oogling at the ramen stand not too far away. He was like a six-year-old child who had been told he could play with whatever toy he wanted and eat all kinds of candies and sweets to his heart's desire. His brown eyes glazed over with anticipation as the cook whipped up a super, ginormous bowl with the works. Even the customers by either of his side were deeply amazed at what he had ordered.

"One Oo-Kuma Ramen Bowl order!" announced a feminine voice.

"Me me me!" Narugami waved his hand excitedly.

The strangely familiar blonde woman grinned and placed the giant bowl before her customer, and everyone watched in great awe as he broke the cheap wooden chopsticks in half and clasped his hands together in blessing, "Itadakimasu~!" He ate piece by piece, nonstop. A bit of noodles, some beef, more noodles, a heavy slurp of broth, more noodles, etc.

Not even ten seconds had ticked when the bowl of ramen welcomed its customer's face. Everyone gasped, including the male cook who had made the food, but the server named Urd lifted a knocked out Narugami's head from the bowl to assess the situation further. She smiled, after confirmng that he was still breathing but unconscious, and began to drag the boy's body away, whistling a cheerful tune, while poor, freaked out customers ran off, refusing to eat any further.

Oh, and they had not paid.

* * *

The night continued on. Even after about twenty takoyaki, the girls were now parting from the crepe stand with an irritate Kakinouchi in tow. "And just why do I have to pay for this?" he demanded.

The girls stopped and turned their heads towards him, giving him these big, adorable eyes with batting lashes to boot. The outlandishly cute scene went all sparkly and glittery, causing the nearby young men to swoon weakly and pass out, but Kakinouchi, one of the strongest men, mentally, blushed. With that, his question was answered.

The girls high-fived each other and kept walking, giggling and pointing to several interesting points of the festival. Occasionally, cherry blossom petals would drift through air and entice the passerbys to stop and watch the midair waltz in pink. Hel-chan scurried over to an empty walkway lined with many trees, "Let's go this way. There are more falling here."

A slight breeze stirred, sending the petals into a more frivolous dance through the night skies. The light from the crowded vendor streets illuminated the pink hues giving some life to the fading cherry blossoms. Hel-chan twirled along with the blossoms while Mayura and Kakinouchi watched on with a smile.

"She's so cute!" The older girl commented. "Take a picture! Take a picture!"

Yamino was flustered, "I'm sorry, Mayura-taichou. I didn't bring it, but.."

"Aawe, but she's looking so cute!" she interrupted him, "I bet Loki would love to see it too!"

There was a flash to their right side, and both saw Kakinouchi smile with his cell phone in hand. "I got it," his smile grew wider, "So how much would you pay-"

"NOOOOO!" came a screech.

WHACK! THUD! OOF!

A hyperventilating Hel-chan was sitting on Kakinouchi's back, while the poor boy was pinned on the ground, and fumbling with his high-tech phone to delete the photo he had taken of her.

"What's wrong, Hel-chan?" Mayura inquired, "You were just oh-so cute!"

"N-no.. no pi-pictures.." the girl mumbled, staring at the phone.

"Hel-chan doesn't like to have her pictures taken," Yamino finally explained nervously.

Mayura looked dejected.

"I wish you had told me sooner," Kakinouchi was apathetic beneath the young girl's weight, "As much as I enjoy this, do you mind getting off me, Hel-chan?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologize and stood up, extending her hand to help him. After making sure all photos of her were not on his phone, even though she was amazed at how many girls' photos he had, with a faint blush, she returned his phone and not mentioned the subject.

He inspected his phone to make sure there were no damages. He had such a serious expression that made Hel-chan feel guilty, and Mayura noticed and smacked his head, "Hey, don't ruin the mood!" She then took Hel-chan's hand, before Kakinouchi could open his mouth, and pulled her along and told her, "Let's go play some games!"

Back in a better mood, the girls went back towards the well-lit stalls, looking for better amusement than a grumpy, teenaged boy whose main hobby was flirting with girls but somehow failed miserably when it came to a certain pink-haired club president-not that it was his intention or anything! But maybe, just maybe he should try...

"Erm, excuse me," Yamino spoke too late, when they had just left him standing there in the silence. He had been too preocuppied with their missing friend to relax. Sure, Narugami was a big boy and could take care of himself... but not when it came to food! "Shouldn't we," he said quietly to no one in the vicinity, "look for Narugami-kun..?"

"Oh, don't worry," came a female voice, so sweetly dangerous and so close to his ears, "you'll be joining him soon."

Before Yamino could react, a hand holding a white cloth had covered his mouth, and the chloroform began to dull his senses. He lost consciousness and fell back into Urd's arms. The night was still young, and she felt so giddy. It reminded her of her youthful days when her missions were less lethal in execution, meaning she had to keep her victims alive rather than just terminating their lives.

"Ah, yes, those days," she sighed contently, throwing Yamino's unconcious body over her shoulder as if he weighed nothing more than a sack of rice, and walked into the darkness of the trees.

* * *

Kakinouchi finally caught up to the girls and found them huddled over a small pool of water. Each of them held a _poi_, a paper scooper, to catch the cute goldfish swimming in the pool. He stood behind them, with arms folded across his chest, and watched. Hel-chan was the patient one, keeping her scoop above water and eying certain fish before making her move. Mayura had already gone through her third scoop with the pure anxiety of a child.

"Aawe, this is so hard!" she whined. She then looked up to Kakinouchi, who shook his head in refusal to help. She gave him a pout then turned her attention to... Yamino, who wasn't there. "Hey, where's Yamino-kun?"

He blinked and looked over his shoulders, "I thought he was right behind me."

"Maybe onii-san went to the souvenir stalls," Hel-chan suggested, while she kept her eyes on this particular goldfish. It was swimming idly away from its group, and when there was a short pause, she made her move, flicking her scoop into the water, and within two seconds, there was the goldfish in her bowl. "Yay, I got it!"

"Oooh! Congratulations, Hel-chan!" she cooed at the little thing. "What are you gonna name it?"

Hel-chan though about it, as the stall owner congratulated her and put her prize goldfish into a bag for her to take him, and said, "I think, Heim-chan." She blushed, staring at the fish.

"That's a cute name." Mayura didn't think anything of it, but Kakinouchi on the other hand had noticed the tint pink across their friend's cheek. "Let's try another game. I want to win something too!" She got up and made her way to the stand with tossing rings.

Kakinouchi followed her, telling her how uncoordinated she was and she wouldn't win a single prize. "But if you ask me kindly, maybe I'll consider helping you," he said haughtily.

"Just you watch! I'll win this with my eyes closed!" she snorted, rolling up her kimono sleeves in preparation.

Hel-chan lingered after them, playing with her Heim-chan in the bag. She giggled, "You look just like him, with that pensive look." She was so absorbed with him, or the other human him, that she walked right into someone. She was knocked back and was falling, until two strong hands quickly caught her and kept her upright.

She fumbled out her apology to the taller man and then realized who she had bumped into, "I'm so sorry, Higashiyama-sensei!" Her face turned completely red as she clutched onto her goldfish bag.

"Are you all right, Hel-chan?" he asked, concerned at her flushed face. She was deeply troubled when she saw a skewer of yakitori laying on the ground. She was close to tears when his hands on her tightened a bit. "Hel-chan, look at me. Don't worry about it," he tried to calm her.

"I'M SO SORRY, SENSEI!" she cried, "I RUINED YOUR FOOD!"

Higashiyama was now uneasy that everyone was staring at them and pulled her along with him to get some privacy. "Hel-chan, please don't cry," he tried, knowing how Loki would have his head, "As long as you're fine, that's all that matters. And food can be easily replaced, but not Hel-chan. There's only one Hel-chan on earth." He rolled his eyes inward at such lame lines. What possessed him to say such words and to this girl who happened to be Loki's adopted daughter.

But those magic words did its trick. Hel-chan stopped crying and gazed at him with pure admiration. "You think so?" she sniffed.

He nodded, attempting to geniunely smile.

In a few seconds, she recomposed herself shyly and and softly spoke to him, "For earlier, as my gratitude and apology, I'll... treat you to some more yakitori."

He was rather speechless but seeing how timid she was and when she peered up to him, he could see hope in her eyes, he just couldn't turn her down. He gave another nod, in accepting, and the two made their way down the path.

Hel-chan was overwhelmed with excitement, after winning little Heim-chan and now being Higashiyama-sensei. All thoughts about what had happened before or of her friends completely left her mind. She was in her own little world with her perfect, handsome sensei, and nothing could ruin that. NOTHING, or face the wrath of Hel-chan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mayura and Kakinouchi were left to their own devices, which was never a good thing. They were now at a ball throwing stall, with the goal of knocking down the prize you want on the moving platform. "You throw like a girl!" he shouted at her.

"I am a girl!"

"An uncute girl!"

He grabbed one of her unused balls and threw it without any effort and knocked a small, white rabbit off the platform. The vender clapped at the winning strike and handed the prize over to him, grinning, "Give it to your girlfriend as a peace offering."

"He's NOT my boyfriend!"

"She's NOT my girlfriend!"

The two teenagers shouted at the poor man simultaneously, but Kakinouchi did shove the rabbit into her arms before stalking away.

Frowning, she marched right after him, telling him, "I don't want your charity!"

"I've got no use for that thing anyway!" he spatted back, walking faster.

"Just give it to one of your girlfriends!" she sped up as fast as she could in her geta.

"It suits you better! Childish and cute!"

"..."

She stopped and winded up and threw the rabbit, smacking the back of his head with it. "Ha! I got aim!" she puffed her chest out proudly and punched the air with her fist. "How about that!"

He turned around and picked it up, frowning a bit, disappointed that she was so insistent on not accepting his gift. It was true he could've given it to any of the girls he knew, but this one time, he wanted her to have it. When she was trying her hardest to hit for a prize at the stall, he saw the rabbit, and it immediately reminded him of her. It was something he imagined she would have in her room.

And now, here they were, standing just a few meters apart, staring each other down in the middle of the pathway. As if on cue, the breeze picked up, setting the dramatic showdown scene. To tell her what was truly on his mind, or just continue...

"Someone stop that dog!"

The next thing anyone knew, a small flash of black fur sprinted across the scene with some meat dangling from his mouth, having pilfered it from an unsuspecting vender. Mayura blinked and freaked out at recognition of the dog and ran after him, forgetting about Kakinouchi and the rabbit. The blonde almost looked forlorn in the distance, watching her frame disappear from sight.

"What the hell!" he shook himself out of his stupor and chased after her, with the rabbit still in his hand. She was running back towards the trees and more in the direction of construction area of the park, and knowing her, she wouldn't realize it till it was too late. He thought someone in those geta wouldn't be so fast and he would catch up to her, but she was still far from his grasp.

Before another thought came, deja vu struck. That same falling sensation he had in the past week returned to him, and lo and behold, he was sitting at the bottom of a hole again. There was a slight difference with this certain one compared to the last one that was in the construction area: it was more narrow and deep. He was nowhere near the construction site yet, so what was this hole doing out here without any warning signs?

"And the mouse is caught," came the voice over him. He looked up and tried to make out the owner and could see a female sihoulette in the moonlight.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" he asked calmly. "If it's about money..."

"Nothing so trifle."

* * *

Back to Mayura who was still chasing after Fenrir, but he disappeared in to the groves, far away from the festivities, and she was losing the aid of light. She couldn't worry about that when she needed to find him before some campus authority get their hands on him and send him to the pound. "Fen-chan!" she called out to him, "It's just me. You can come out! You're safe now!"

She stopped next to a tree and leaned against it, to catch her breath, and hopefully hear any sounds to indicate where Fenrir was. The more she thought about Fenrir, she wondered if he was happy living with her, although he was confined to her room most of the time. Or did he prefer to be back in the park, where he had grounds to run freely?

Wait, how did he leave her room?

She was certain she locked it before she left, and even left him some food for the evening.

Mayura suddenly spun around, at the sound of twigs breaking behind her. "Fen-chan?" It was quiet again, and for once, that silence made her nervous, because she was alone. She swallowed hard and slowly stepped backwards to the tree she rested by until her back was against it. She tried to steady her breathing and her crazy imagination, like vampires swooping in to suck her blood or zombies maiming her for food.

A hand fell onto her shoulder.

She screamed and ran blindly away, again.

It wasn't even ten steps when she bumped into someone, knocking the person and herself to the ground. She was blabbering incoherently about a vampire... dog with food... a zombie... hand... in blood.

"Hold on here," came a man's familliar voice, "You have to calm down first."

She took some deep breaths, sitting in the man's lap as he held her protectively. It took her a few seconds to gather herself together and finally look at her savior, and she gasped, very speechless because he was the last person she expected to appear.

"All better?" he asked, and she could only nodded in reply. "Now, as much as I enjoy running into you, I think a better location would be suitable for this. Right, Mayura-chan?"

((Sorry it's been so long! And sorry there's a cliffhanger! But you know who that is at the end! =P Let me just say I enjoy putting Urd in this chapter. Poor mystery team. Not as funny as I hoped for. It was so much better in my head, lol. Anyway peaz out, long day at work tomorrow. ~kuro))


	9. The Aftermath!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**Episode Eight: The Aftermath! What Did Happen Last Night?**

"Loki-sama?"

"The one and only," he grinned, brushing some loose strands from her face, while she was still sitting in his lap. His free arm rested on her waist, fingering her obi playfully and watching her curious expressions. He waited till she opened her mouth to ask him what was on her mind.

Mayura looked very serious than she normally was. She placed her hands on his shoulder, piercing her eyes deeply into his own, which surprised him slightly, "What are you doing here, Loki-sama?" Then she looked around, taking note of their surroundings, "I don't think it's safe out here."

"Hmm, is that so?" He didn't seem at all phase from her worries. "Well, as long as you're with me, it'll be fine." He cupped the side of her face and brought her back onto him and told her, "There is something I wanted to show you."

"Ooh, there is?" she was getting excited, "Ancient burial grounds? Haunted house? Mysterious bones? Floating lights?" All these suggestions gushed from her mouth, and every time, Loki shook his head as he helped her up from the ground. He then brushed the grass and dirt off the precious kimono he gave to her. Holding her at arms-length, he finally took a good look at her wearing his gift.

She realized he was staring at the kimono and remembered her manners. She bowed to him deeply, grateful for the lavish gift she didn't deserve, though she did reprimand him, "You shouldn't give presents to other women so carelessly! It's something you do for your wife!"

He laughed at her naivete, taking her by the hand and led her along to his surprise. "But I'm not married," he informed her. She didn't seem to notice or mind that they were holding hands so intimately, since she was freely chattering away as if they weren't chancellor and student.

"Oh. Well your girlfriend wouldn't be happy!"

"No girlfriend either."

She blinked at him incredulously, "Whaa..? No way, not someone as goodlooking as you!"

He raised an eyebrow at her compliment of him, as his smile grew wider, "Oh? You think I look good, hm?"

"Well, you aren't ugly," she stated obviously. "I think," she paused for a second, "you're the best looking guy I know..."

"It's reassuring that you think so," he continued to smile, tugging her hand just a bit to pull her closer to him.

She didn't realize she was walking a bit slow and caught her pace up to him. She was grinning too, "Kakinouchi was number one."

"Oh?"

His response came out dull and disappointed, reflecting his own emotions, and he grew a little irritated. His hand holding hers tightened his grip possessively at those words, but he was still confident in himself. He was alone with her, and no one would disturb them right now, as he planned it to be. He would make her see him, and only him.

"Ne Loki-sama? Where are we going?"

"Just a little farther.

They continued to walk, now in silence, but not too far ahead, she could make out some lights and the sound of water gushing out. She pondered on what it was, but as they neared, coming off an unmarked path through the trees, she noticed it had been the construction grounds earlier that week. The area was now completed as a central attraction point with a gorgeous water fountain in the middle.

"Wow, it's beautiful," she whispered. She stepped onto the stone paved walkway, with her hand falling out of his grasp. She walked up closer to the fountain to inspect the marble decor and the statue of what looks like a goddess with long hair gazing up to the skies. Around her feet were flowers that spouted water out.

"I'm glad you like it," came his voice next to her.

Mayura looked at him, only to find his longing eyes had been on her the whole time. It made her slightly uncomfortable under his earnest gaze, and a faint blush painted her cheeks. He touched her face with both hands, moving closer and closer to her. Lost in his enchanhtment, she felt her insides squirming in confusion, but it seemed so right, and all she could do was whimper out his name.

"Lo..ki.. sa..ma..."

"LOKI~ DARLING~!" came a squeal.

Next thing either of them knew, Mayura was shoved aside, falling to the ground on her bottom, and a woman with long blonde hair threw herself at the confused chancellor.

"I found you!" the strange but beautiful woman pulled back momentarily to see his handsome, "Did you miss me? I took the the first flight back from the convention just to see you!" She puckered her red lips eagerly to kiss him, but his hand quickly caught her face before she could taint him with her overbearing adoration.

Nujorudo Freya, in a sense a goddess of the health department and the academy's head nurse who was completely smittened by Loki at first sight. Her duties as nurse only came second to her pursuit of the chancellor who had thwarted her hunt at every turn while she rejected all her lovesick admirers. And now to complicate things further for the unofficial couple...

Mayura, still baffled on the situation, remained in her fallen position on the ground, just staring at the weird woman who flew from nowhere. She almost pouted to see how intimate the blonde was getting with Loki, but just as that unfamiliar feeling came to her, it was gone in the next second when she found Fenrir by her side, licking her hand in comforting.

"There you are, Fenrir!" she sighed and picked up the puppy and cuddled him. "You had me so worried," she scolded him lightly, though she couldn't be upset with such a cute thing.

Loki had finally calmed Freya down a bit but getting her to detach herself from his arm was another hurdle that was practically impossible. When Mayura composed herself on her feet, Freya finally took notice of the girl and frowned, "And who are you? A student? Don't you know who Loki-darling is? So you shouldn't be so familiar with him!"

"That's enough, Freya," he ordered her, keeping his voice even, and with one brush of his hand, he broke free from her and walked over to Mayura, while still addressing the woman, "You must've had a long flight. I suggest you retire to your room."

He placed a hand on Mayura's back, indicating that he was leaving with her. With one last glance towards Freya, "Have a good weekend."

Speechless and uncertain of what she had become the middle of, Mayura was ushered down the pathway by Loki. Fenrir, still in her arms, gave a small bark and wagged his tail happily. Loki smiled down to the animal and with his free hand, gave him a good scratch behind his ears.

Mayura couldn't help but look back at a very annoyed Freya glaring daggers right back at her. Then she looked up at Loki, who kept his eyes straight ahead, but his hand around her waist remained where it was. She wanted to ask him who the lady was, but his serious expression scared her. It wasn't like him at all without his charming smile and lighthearted laughter. She was even used to his playfulness and his laid back demeanor.

This Loki was different.

They had been walking for a while now, and she didn't even noticed till he stopped and apologized. "I'm sorry the night ended this way," he started and gave her his usual sweet smile as he laid a hand on her head, petting her. As the gentleman that he was, he had walked her straight to her dormitory. "I'll have to make it up to you."

"Who was she?" Mayura braved herself to ask.

His grin grew wider, "Oh? Jealous are we?"

"Huh?" she blinked, "What do you mean? Well, she is pretty..."

"I was joking," he chuckled, "You're irreplaceable, Mayura-chan."

"Your relationship didn't look simple."

"We're old colleagues, dated once. That's it." He touched her chin, lifting her face up to him, "So there's nothing to worry about."

"I'm not worried," she stated, "Loki-sama can date whoever he likes."

"I see." He released her and folded his arms across his chest in a thinking pose, "So Mayura-chan agrees."

She nodded, "Of course."

"Great!" He leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. She blushed as he told her, "Then I'll pick you up tomorrow at six o'clock for our date!" He departed from her with a smile and wave, leaving her in utter confusion. He was gone from her sight before she could protest.

"That's not what I meant!" she whined.

Fenrir barked, which sounded a lot like laughter.

* * *

And so when the next morning came, Mayura popped up in bed with sweat dripping down the side of her face. She just had the weirdest dream, and there weren't any ghosts or aliens in it. All she kept seeing last night was Loki, holding her hand and taking her through a dark forest. She didn't know what it all meant but decided to get out of bed, as gently as possible as to not disturb Fenrir curled up at the end of the bed.

Passing by her dresser, she noticed her cell phone blinking and went to check it. It seemed several messages have been left for her since last night. She entered a few numbers and accessed her voicemail. After a few minutes, her eyes widened at the messages, and she rushed into the bathroom, and in another fifteen minutes, she was dressed and ran out the door, absentmindedly letting the door slam shut which woke up poor Fenrir from his sweet dreams of chasing meat.

Wearing a purple tank top and a pair denim shorts, Mayura ran across campus that weekend morning with such urgency that one could've sworn the biggest mystery just released. But that wasn't the case - not so much - as she headed to the health department, which also contained the medical wing for on campus emergencies.

She flew through the sliding glass doors and went directly to the front desk, where the receptionist just stared at an out of breath Mayura. She raised a hand, telling her to wait a moment before she could ask a question. She had no need to when a familiar voice called out to her, "Senpai!"

Mayura looked up and saw Hel-chan hurrying over to her.

"Senpai, I've been trying to reach you all night. Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. What happened to the others? Are they all right?" She was very concerned and followed Hel-chan to the elevators.

"They're doing well right now, but I think they should explain what happened."

After the short ride up to the second floor, the girls made quick strides to the patients' rooms. Their three male companions were placed together in one room for recovery, and when they entered the room, Narugami was downing a bowl of miso soup. Yamino was watching the television while Kakinouchi wished he had better days. He had his eyes closed, trying to get some rest.

Hel-chan greeted the guys, "Mayura-senpai is here, everyone."

Yamino seemed very relieved, "You're all right, kaichou. I'm so glad."

Narugami acknowledged her with a wave while he ate his morning rice, and their blonde companion opened one eye to glance at her before shutting it again.

"Of course," she seemed puzzled and joined Hel-chan by her brother's bedside, "What are you guys doing here? Did something happen last night?"

Yamino looked to the other guys, but both were occupied so he began to explain, "It happened when we separated from Narugami-san..."

Narugami was lured away by the awesome, delicious food of the ramen stand, and his food was laced with a drug that rendered him unconscious. The owner of the stand said he hired a woman to help serve the customers but didn't remember her very well, and her information was fake, of course. Later, Yamino became the second target and confirmed that it was indeed a woman's voice he heard before passing out.

Kakinouchi piped in at this point, "It was very dark, so it was hard to see her, but she appeared tall and slim, with a very attractive voice. Smart and cunning, a professional." All eyes were on him as he spoke, and he turned away to hide his face as he told them, "She threw in some gas device, and that was all I can remember. When I-we woke up, we were here in the medical ward."

"As you can see, we're fine," Yamino insisted, "but our blood must've been taken." True to his words, on each of their arms, there was an entry point where the syringe entered.

Hel-chan added, "The doctors ran tests to make sure nothing was injected, and they're normal."

"That's some mystery!" Mayura exlaimed and started thinking it over.

The younger girl looked worried, "We should tell otou-san this. I haven't seen him since last afternoon, I wonder if he's okay too."

"Oh, he was fine to me," she told them, "Healthy as can be to beat that woman off him. Haha."

They stared at a laughing Mayura, who was the only one to find her own joke funny, when the door suddenly opened, and a familiar woman appeared - not laughing one bit, "Oh? Beat off what woman?" She bopped the back of Mayura's head with her documents before addressing the others, "You boys are fine as can be, so you can check out of here."

"Thank you, Nujorudo-san," Yamino nodded, looking very pale along with his sister.

Various reactions to the new face amused the blonde nurse while she carefully looked over each patient's file. Narugami was agonizing over leaving the food, but Kakinouchi seemed mildly interested in the refreshing beauty. Mayura glared at the woman's back for the mistreatment and dropped it when Hel-chan tugged on her sleeve.

She nudged her to the side and whispered, "We're in deep trouble."

((This episode bothers me... because it's not funny. -sighs- Anyway, I hope the MayuLoki moments can sustain you guys a bit, lol. And you've finally got a Freya! I figured it's about time to spice it up. ~kuro))


	10. Jealous Rival!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**EPISODE NINE: Jealous Rival! A Midnight to Remember!**

Hel-chan stood solemnly in the hospital hallway with a rather pensive Mayura, which allowed their male comrades to change into proper clothes. After seeing Freya for the first time in a very long time, the younger girl looked paler than normal, and that was when Mayura put two and two together.

"You're scared of her?" the pink-haired girl inquired. Both glanced down the hall to the nurse station to see the beautiful blonde smiling to her pack of medical admirers – even women who were envious of her beauty still found respect for her. She carried herself with much grace and confidence, something that Mayura seemed to lack, and the latter wasn't quite sure why the new face bothered her so much.

Freya caught the two girls staring at her and threw an arrogant smirk their way, causing them to sweatdrop.

"She's a very dangerous woman," Hel-chan stated, adjusting her glasses stiffly. "So dangerous, she has been officially entitled as the _Goddess of the Health Department_ - not only does she save lives but also cause several palpitations and heart inducing irregulations and overly stimulated sweat glands."

"Now she sounds more like a deadly disease than anything," Mayura noted lightly with a grin. "Hmm, but it's interesting! Like a mystery!"

"She's no mystery. She's just a 'hot blonde nurse' as most men would say," the younger girl sighed, "But we should stay away from her, especially you, senpai."

Mayura blinked in confusion, "Huh? Me? Why?"

Hel-chan sighed again, thinking how there was no subtle way to tell the girl that her father was deeply interested in her and Freya would do anything to stop that, even permanently eliminate her from the human population. She would just have to be on high alert for now till she could speak to her brother about the bad situation they were thrown in.

"Anyway, I think we have more pressing matters," she tried to change the hideous topic.

As if on cue, the three male members of the club exited the patient room, all healthy and normal as could be, although Narugami seemed to be disheartened - apparently from the below average but free hospital food, which he had yet to realize his parents would be billed the invoice for his hospital accommodations.

The Mystery Club finally reunited, and now was a time to plan an attack. An attack on what, they weren't sure of, but there was no way to let this abduction and blood sucking go unavenged nor uninvestigated. Their only course of action left was to return to the scenes of the crimes to search for clues before more disturbances occurred, not realizing that the only targets had been those of the club.

Before they could finish their improv meeting in the middle of the hospital hallway, Mayura's ear twitched, and she felt a mysterious sensation running down her spine - almost like a sixth sense, but it was more like an attraction to supernatural trouble. She glanced over her shoulders and saw two nurses close together in whispers. Mayura slyly scurried away from her friends to eavesdrop on the conversation, which went something like this:

"Please cover my shift tonight!" the nurse with glasses pleaded.

"Eh, if it was any other shift, I would," the shorter nurse shifted uncomfortably in her spot. With a nervous hand, she moved some strands of hair behind her ear. "I heard about it, about the rumors at night."

A bit frustrated, the woman denied, "Don't listen to them. This place isn't haunted."

"WHAT? Haunted?!" Mayura had interrupted the two, standing eagerly between them. Her overly enthusiastic voice finally grabbed the attention from her group who looked tiresomely in her direction.

Yamino and Hel-chan exchanged a frightful glance as their club president continued speaking to the nurses, "If you have a problem with the supernatural or extraterrestrial, the Mystery Club is here to save you! Or a legend you need investigated... or a pet you needed exorcised... or a family secret you need to solve... or-"

Kakinouchi surprised her, clamping his hand over her mouth to quiet her, and graciously apologized to the women for the girl's strange behaviors, but the situation did pique his curiosity. After he released an irritated Mayura, he gave a curt bow and took the hand of one of the nurses and placed a kiss on the back of her hand, like the gentleman- err, casanova that he was.

"Ladies, if you have a problem," he started, gazing deeply into their already in-love eyes, "then I will help you. I am here, for you."

"Kakinouchi!" Mayura was huffing and puffing till she was red, wanting to argue that she normally was the one to volunteer to be helpful, not him! Yamino and Hel-chan had to hold her back from clobbering Prince Kakinouchi, who purposely riled up the girl as so because if she was mad at him that meant that she was thinking of him and no one else, which fell under being obsessively creepy.

"Guys!" Narugami finally spoke, and they turned to him as if he was about to enlighten them about the mysteries of the universe, "Let's go eat." They all fell to the floor as he continued towards the exit, informing them, "All this talking and standing here made me hungry."

The siblings, pondering quietly to themselves about the problem of Freya in their lives, started to follow the brunette, but Mayura stayed back with Kakinouchi to speak with the nurses about the rumor. The pair didn't get much out of the two women, only that the unused wing of the hospital had been left unattended by all except the janitor. The area had become more of a storage unit, archiving documents and research and extra equipments.

Very few people came to that branch of the facility, even during the day time, but at night, only the janitor, who also took up the role of security, would make two rounds into the area. In the past, he had reported of strange footsteps coming from some of the rooms and hallways, but when he went to check, no one was there. He at first assumed someone on the night staff was trying to scare him, but everyone was accounted for upon his return. It didn't happen every night though, only on the night of a full moon.

"Kyaa! It's the ghost of a hospitalized werewolf!"

Mayura's exclamation earned her strange looks from the others around the table. Kakinouchi, after meeting up with the club mates at the nearby cafe, was in the middle of explaining what the nurses had told them.

"It sounds like some juvenile prank," he voiced the obvious explanation, "There's a group of male interns who like to prank the night staff. Everyone on campus know about the hospital rumors."

"But what if it's not?!" their excited leader insisted, "We have to investigate every angle of the story!"

"Kaichou," Yamino started, still feeling a bit anemic, "I'll have to pass on this one."

"Are you all right, onii-san?" Hel-chan asked worriedly, supporting his frail form by the arm.

"Ah, just a little tired. I'll get some rest, and I'll be fine." He smiled weakly to the others, to reassure them, and Hel-chan would make sure he got all that rest and take care of everything. Before they left, Narugami noted he should drink lots of water, and that earned him a few amazing expressions, so now it was down to Mayura with an endlessly famished Narugami and a rather unwilling Kakinouchi.

She turned towards them and was happily ready to discuss the hospital haunting further, but Narugami sighed uncharacteristically with a cloud of gloom overhead. Kakinouchi was afraid to ask, so Mayura did the honors, "What's wrong, Narugami-kun? Was the food not good? Did you want more?"

"No, the food was great!" he sighed again, with his less than enthusiastic self when it came to tasty food, and come to think of it, since Kakinouchi had been telling the story of the haunted hospital, Narugami had been rather spacey than normal.

After an epiphany, Mayura pointed at him, "You must be possessed!"

"Nothing like that, Daidouji. It's just... I have to find a part-time job." The two classmates blinked as he continued, "Mom just sent me a text. She said my monthly allowance is cut by half 'cause of the economy."

"Tough luck," Kakinouchi shrugged, "I guess you cut back on your meals, huh?"

"No way! That's why I have to get a job!" he declared, slamming his fists on the table top, and hurried out of the cafe.

"So it's just you and me," the blonde sighed, secretly happy at the results that fate had suddenly spun for him. He casually eyed his companion to find her looking gloomy, like Narugami had been earlier. Miffed, he rested his chin on the back of his hand and poked her cheek, "Oi Daidouji, don't keep me waiting."

"Hm, what?" she blinked at him.

He rolled his eyes at her cluelessness and sighed, "Why don't you forget about the haunting, and let's... watch a movie tonight."

"Oh yeah! Let's meet then!"

He was amazed that she agreed to do something together, alone, just the two of them, and he nearly jumped out of his seat and cheered, but her next words brought him out of his joy as she scrolled through her phone for information, "Hmm, what luck! Tonight is a full moon! We can catch this stalking werewolf in the act!

Kakinouchi dropped his head into both hands and groaned.

* * *

The orange glow of the setting sun radiated into the sitting room, giving a quiet warmth into what seemed likely a lonely place. The sole occupant seated calmly on the navy chaise lounge of a distinct Victorian style, with its incised and gilded decorations upon the rosewood material. The air of extravagance and elegance of the room only matched those of its owner.

With a book in his lap, over his crossed legs, he tried to focus on reading for the past hours, but at the hourly chime of the antique clock upon the mantle of the fireplace, he finally closed the book and stood up. Just an hour left till the appointed time, and he almost felt like a teenager again, though he hid it well beneath his calm, handsome adult self.

He had been waiting for this moment since... who know how long, and no one would interrupt him on his date tonight. When he meant no one, he meant all his female acquaintances and all her would be suitors, and at that thought, he left the room, pulling a cell phone from the inner pocket of his burgundy waistcoat. He had to be certain that the plan to eliminate potential interference was flawless and the head of the operation was alert.

He waited for the call to pick up and then smiled at the familiar voice.

* * *

A quarter till six, Hel-chan was in the kitchen, preparing dinner for two since her father had recently left the house. She had been busy most of the day taking care of her dear brother, who was still napping in his room, so she didn't bother to ask what plans her father had that evening. Now that she thought about it, he had not been around the house much, but then again, neither was she.

"What shall we eat tonight?" she mused and looked over to the fish bowl, "What do you want, Heim-chan?" She watched cute Heim-chan swim happily in circles and giggled to herself.

* * *

At six o'clock on the dot, Loki had arrived to the female dormitory of his date that evening, only to be left waiting outside with a bouquet of flowers in hand. Every single girl walking by nearly swooned on site at the handsome man and hoped that he was there just for them, but he would only smile and shake his head in polite decline at their offer.

The group of girls sadly walked away and hid in the nearby bushes to see who the intended girl was, so they could ambush her later with interrogations and threats of disembowelment.

Several minutes passed by, and Loki couldn't take anymore waiting so he decided to go straight to the front door of her room, and after several knocks and calls, the door did not open. He frowned, not liking it one bit, and it was throwing his plans for the night off course. He leaned his ear against the door to decipher any sounds from inside, but it was void of sounds and apparently the owner of the room.

With a disappointed frown marring his handsome face, he hurried downstairs to the residential assistance's quarters, and restraining the urge to literally knock the door down with his fists, he rapped his knuckles on the wood, urgent and hard, but no answer either. He figured Urd was sometimes hard of hearing so he banged the door louder, yet still no reply.

Now, this whole night was becoming a mystery, and he didn't like it when he was out of the loop.

* * *

At seven, and since that afternoon, Mayura had been gathering her ghost busting gear together at Kakinouchi's place since his fancy apartment, which was actually the whole floor of the luxurious building of the rich and powerful, was bigger. She was well prepared for a night investigation at the supposedly haunted hospital and eager to be on the way now, though Fenrir, who had accompanied his young master, was not happy, because she had completely forgotten about a crucial event in her life.

"Kakinouchi, are you ready yet?!"

She, dressed in black pants and a black shirt, paced about the room with the giant backpack on her back, twice her size and periodically glanced at the bedroom door. Fenrir was flat on the floor, following Mayura with his eyes, when, finally, the door opened, the teenager appeared in his casual clothes that didn't blare out doing suspicious activities, she glared at him, "Why aren't you ready?!"

Even Fenrir barked at him, as if scolding the young man, but the bark was of dislike. There was a sort of invisible animosity the animal emitted towards him, which seemed unreasonable since he couldn't recall on giving the dog any reason to, like harming his owner, Mayura. How could Fenrir stand that the female was associating with a young man that was enamored with her when there was someone much better for her!

"Daidouji, you have everything for an army," he rolled his eyes, "But if you insist, I can bring a bottle of wine."

"We're underage."

He sighed, "Nevermind."

* * *

At seven-thirty, Mayura and Kakinouchi were thrown out of the hospital for looking suspicious and causing a disturbance in the quiet hospital, and no animals were allowed in the first place. At least Freya was not there to cause more humiliation for the duo. Still sitting on the ground, Kakinouchi turned to her and said, "We can still catch that dinner and a movie."

Fenrir immediately growled with distaste as if giving him a reply, but Mayura was busy with other ideas, "Right, we'll wait till nightfall and sneak in through the back!"

"You haven't heard a word I said!" he threw his hands into the air, exasperated. He wondered if he confessed his feelings to her now, would she even noticed? Probably not, so he had to be content with what they have for a while. He watched her speak to Fenrir, who barked happily and wagged his tail.

Three and a half hours later, after being bored out of his mind and nearly falling asleep against her shoulder, Fenrir barked and Mayura suddenly jumped to her feet, knocking Kakinouchi back. He rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes and focused on the girl and her puppy before him, ever determined to get to the bottom of the so called mystery. He followed them from behind the bushes in the back of the hospital, near the employee parking, and carefully watched as the last worker of the day shift were leaving.

When the area was clear to move, they snuck across the lot in the darkness to reach the side door. Sticking close to her, Kakinouchi didn't want to admit it, but he was actually enjoying the secretive adventure with just the two of them. He guessed being cajoled into the Mystery Club wasn't so bad after all, though having a crush on the crazy club leader was unexpected.

No surprise that the door was locked, but that didn't stop Mayura. She put Fenrir on the ground and took out a small case with her needed tools and picked at the lock. Kakinouchi opened his mouth, wanting to ask her about it, but decided it was probably best not to find out where she learned the lockpicking trade. When he thought about it, a lot of so called haunted places were forbidden from the public, so one would have to learn about locks to be able to get inside those secured places.

After the click, she whispered, "Let's go!"

Fenrir went inside first to check it out, and without anyone in sight, she stepped inside with Kakinouchi cautiously looking over his shoulder. There was a dim light overhead, illuminating the hallway poorly, so she brought a flashlight out and shined it on the paper in her hand. It was a simple drawn layout of the hospital in Mayura's handwriting that only showed the several entrances and main hallways, ignoring the many rooms that laid in their path.

She started to lead the way, but after she got them lost with a few turns, eventually Fenrir took over since he had the uncanny ability - Mayura discovered of animals - to sniff out the strange and mysterious. She was so proud of her cute puppy, so diligent and curious and smart just like his master (which she'd like to think so).

After fifteen minutes of cautious walking, hoping not to be discovered by the hospital personnel, they reached a yellow sign that said the area was off limits to the public for their safety. Staring down the dark hallway, Kakinouchi began to have a bad feeling about the whole mission, and trying to stop her from going farther would just sentence him to being ignored by her and he couldn't risk that, so all he could do was follow her.

They made their way slowly down the hall, periodically peeking into each room for anything mysterious, but it was fortunate for Kakinouchi that they didn't find anything scary or surprising, just met with silence in return. Disappointed, Mayura continued her search for her proclaimed ghostly werewolf. Only their footsteps echoed in the eerie silence, and Kakinouchi would glance over his shoulder several times at the strange feeling haunting him yet nothing was there.

They turned another corner and that was when he started to hear an obvious echo of footsteps. "Daidouji, wait," he whispered to her and grabbed her hand, stopping her in midstep, and they could both her a slight echo after the bottom of her shoe hit the floor.

"What is it, Kakinouchi?" she asked, still oblivious of her surroundings.

"I think," he sounded doubtful, "someone's following us."

She looked up and down the hall, and no one else was around except for them, "Well there's no werewolf!"

"There's no such thing as werewolves!" he hissed.

"It hasn't been proven!" she snapped back and pulled her arm away, walking off again. When she did, Kakinouchi could hear the second pair of footsteps mimicking hers, and he panicked, running by her and grabbing her hand and dragged her down the hallway. Fenrir barked loudly, as if telling them not to stupidly go that into possible danger, and hurried after the two teenagers.

"See, there is someone following us!"

Despite their running, their shoes clattering against the floor, they could finally make out another set of footsteps in the distance, as if chasing after them.

"Then shouldn't we run back to see who it is?! It could be the werewolf!"

"Or a real live, serial killer!"

"We have Fenrir to protect us."

And speaking of the puppy, he was no longer with them, and as the two looked about, they had no idea where they were at the moment. Mayura's lousy map didn't help either, but as they stood there, the stalking footsteps also stopped.

"Let's just get out of here," he suggested, keeping close to the girl - not that he was scared or anything, he was being a brave gentleman and protecting her.

"Well..."

"Daidouji, it's getting late, and we do have school tomorrow."

"But, what about Fenrir? We can't leave without him."

"He's a smart dog," he grumbled and pulled her along, back from where they came from because it was the only way out since they didn't know what else was ahead of them, and hoped to backtrack their way out and also not run into anything dangerous, but it was too late... with an explosion in the middle of the hall shook them into serious business.

Kakinouchi threw himself over Mayura, and both landed on the floor. Neither sustained any injuries, but they were covered in soot and debris, and the smoke still clouded their vision. They coughed and gathered their wits while the area cleared from the haze, and they could make out a giant hole in the wall. A shapely figure walked through and turned towards them, causing panick to fill Kakinouchi's guts, thinking it was the inevitable hospital, serial killer.

"Goddamn maze," the familiar, female voice rang through the aftermath, "I hate hospitals." There was a click of something in her hands, and Kakinouchi could see the outline of a gun. He tried to get up with Mayura and make a run for it, but it was oh so too late, having the end of the gun pointed at his head.

"Hn, finally found you," Urd sighed and tucked her gun away.

"Noruno-san!" Mayura said in surprise.

There was a frown on Kakinouchi's face, something was strange yet familiar - besides the fact that she was Mayura's residential assistant - about the woman standing in front of them. And no normal person would be armed so dangerously, and speaking of dangerous, he straightened up and asked the woman, "Did you just blow up that wall?"

She was helping Mayura to her feet and replied, "Yes, it was in my way."

His reaction to her answer was just staring at her, deadpanned. He was right on his assumption that she was no ordinary woman but still couldn't pinpoint why she was so familiar. Plus, he felt quite left out, now that Urd had pulled Mayura along, through the hole in the wall, though so many questions popped into the girl's mind, "Ano, Noruno-san, what are you doing here?"

The blonde woman stated matter-of-factly, "I came to fetch you, of course." It was still apparent that Mayura still no idea why her residential assistant would go out of her way to get her from the hospital in the darkness of night, never mind how she even tracked her down. "You had an appointment at six."

"I do?"

"She did?" Kakinouchi echoed, just as puzzled.

"Come along now," the woman urged, and Mayura just obeyed like a good girl that she was, followed by Kakinouchi who was glad to get out of the place. He took one last look at the destruction, thinking there was nothing haunting about the place, assuming that all he heard was just Urd searching the halls for them. The three left the scene without another thought of solving the so-called mysterious (lame) rumor, never realizing that there might be some truth to it.

A faint outline of a little boy playing with a ball scurried down the hallway, the sound of the bouncing ball echoed in a steady rhythm against the floor, almost similar to footsteps. The ball stopped bouncing and rolled to the end, only stopped by a pair of expensive-looking shoes. Fenrir walked up to it and sniffed the ball, pushing it around with his snout. The ghost boy stopped, stared at the ball and Fenrir, then up to the man.

Loki knelt down and picked up the ball. With a warm smile, he held the object out to the boy who accepted it happily and ran off to play again. He then turned towards the direction Mayura and company had left in and frowned. He knew she was a bit dense, but that was what made her adorable, and figured an oddball like Mayura would be more of a turn off to the male population, so he didn't think he had any competition for the affections one mystery-loving girl.

Fenrir barked at him, as if telling he had a lot of work to do.

He sighed, "I know, son, I know."

* * *

The next morning, Higashiyama-sensei was not happy. His arms crossed over his chest, as he stood, staring down at his two most delinquent students in the history of his teaching career. His aura radiated death and doom, and the rest of the students had moved their desks towards the edge of the classroom, leaving Mayura and Narugami asleep on their desktop.

"THIS ISN'T GRADE SCHOOL NAPTIME!" he bellowed.

Narugami jumped out of his seat, holding onto the wooden sword while his head whipped to his surroundings. He only calmed down when he recognized his own classroom but quickly shrunk back at the sight of his towering teacher. Just to his right, Mayura yawned and rubbed her eyes, "Goooood morning, sensei!"

Higashiyama-sensei automatically responded, "Good morn- I mean NO SLEEPING IN MY CLASS!" He started to lecture the two about the classroom being a place of learning and that quick naps are good during lunch, helping the body to quickly reenergize... and somehow it lead to the topics of eating a balance diet and there was a good seafood restaurant that just opened up in the neighborhood.

Narugami was hungry.

By the time the lecture was done, Higashiyama-sensei's English course had ended, and no one learned a thing about the subject.

* * *

((*sighs* I know this is long overdue... and has gotten a bit wordy? I've lost count of how many versions of this episode I've written over the years, lol, and finally settled on this one. I don't think it's as funny, but now Loki has to up his game.

I know nothing's explained, mainly why is Loki so hooked on Mayura which I think would be a while on that, though Freyr is appearing in the next episode, lol. The next update won't take as long as this last one, lol... and I'm still working on _Love Me_. Thank you for being so uber patient... seriously, I love you guys, lol... *runs and hides* -kuro.))


	11. New Obsession!

**A Hundred Mysteries**

written by Kurosu

**EPISODE TEN: New Obsession! Mayura and the Lackluster Artist!**

A ten-second countdown till the clock struck five in the afternoon. Mayura stared it down like her very soul depended on it, which probably was to some degree, but then again, she was stuck in her seat in after school detention, from all the tardiness that she racked up for the month. She and her partner in crime, Narugami, had the misfortune of continuously getting on Higashiyama-sensei's bad side.

Speaking of the young man, his left eye was literally twitching by the second, and when it finally hit four, he booked it out of the chair faster than the teacher could blink. Mayura froze half way standing up from her seat, and the rush from Narugami's speed caused the air to blow against her hair and clothing. She was quite impressed though, hitting her first into her other palm, smiling, "I didn't realize Narugami had become such a mystery fan!"

She quickly grabbed her things and bowed to the old man in charge of detention before she walked out. By the time she was outside the building, she didn't see Narugami at all. She shrugged to herself, thinking that he was probably already at Loki's office from the speed he possessed. She jogged to her usual destination after the school day ended, excited about the many possible mysteries waiting for her, wearing a big smile and swinging her arms happily back and forth as she speed walked.

It was such a beautiful afternoon, the clear blue skies with the warm glow of the sun, and the cool breeze that tickled her skin. It was good to be alive, and despite the two hours spent in detention, it would be great if she could get a mystery out of today.

Her school bag suddenly slipped from her grasp and flew high into the air, her eyes following the flight path of her belonging, arching overhead into the distance until it came down again. No one saw it coming, not even the poor, helpless individual who seemed to have his arms full of various things. The bag rapidly descended upon his head like an anvil being pulled by a giant magnet in one of those silly cartoons.

DOINK!

Mayura winced, swearing that was the sound the collision made, watching the young man fall over. She ran over to him and apologized frantically, trying to collect the books and papers scattered around him. He was mumbling something to himself that she couldn't make out, but she gathered as much as she could, noting several sketchbooks among the pile, and stood up, with a helping hand extended to him.

Annoyed and frustrated, the young man slapped the offered hand away from his face, prepare to shout and scream, or throw a temper tantrum in the middle of campus, but when his eyes rose up to the heathen that dared topple him and his precious works, his brain completely shut down by the sight of perfection before his eyes.

Enter Kaitou Freyr, an ambitious, lackluster artist barely making a living had turned to being an art teacher at the academy. It wasn't the teaching aspect that bothered him as much as the fact that the academy belonged to the family of his most disliked enemy in the world, but to pay the bills, he had to tuck away his pride and animosity. To make matters worse, he had not been able to create a single art piece yet.

He lacked the muse, the inspiration. At least he had thought so, until the gods had finally blessed him.

Star-struck, he grabbed her offered hand within his, knelt lowly before her and breathed, almost in the stalker-like, creepy way, "_Ya-Yamato Nadeshiko_!"

She just stared at him in confusion, "Um, actually my name is Daidouji Mayura." The words left her mouth too late, not that she had even thought it was terribly wrong to give one's full name to a complete and total stranger, who was now worshipping her and the ground she stood on.

"N-No no," he shook away her misunderstanding, still glued to her hand, standing up, "Y-You're my Ya-Yamato Nadeshiko! Th-There's no m-mistake!" He took a hand away from her and patted down his sloppy, flannel shirt until he found what he wanted. He pulled out a small card from his shirt pocket and placed it in her hands, overly giddy about the fated connection they had.

She looked at the card that had his name and his job title. Originally the title was 'art thief', but it was crossed out with a huge black 'X' and replaced with childish handwriting underneath: 'artist extraordinaire'. Why didn't Freyr make new business cards correcting his job? He was a starving artist after all, and he just had to piss off the card maker after that ordeal.

She passed the books back into his hands, still staring at the card in thought, and a smile grew on her face as an idea hit her. She couldn't wait to share the idea of having some business cards for the club, would definitely bring in some mysteries if people knew who they were!

Unfortunately, Freyr, a one-track minded, superficial person, was thrilled to see her as happy as he was, but really, who could compare to Freyr's overwhelming joy, nearly blinding Mayura's own bubbly personality?

* * *

Meanwhile, at one large office of a particular chancellor, Loki was leaning back in the comfortable chair, legs crossed, elbows resting on the armrest. A book in his left as he shifted his weight to the right and leaned his cheek into his palm. He was trying to focus on the book in his hands while his son and daughter were playing with the adorable, black puppy, but it was difficult to read the words when all he could see every time was a certain president of the Mystery Club.

Things seemed to have returned to normal from the messy weekend, but he hadn't been able to get any private time with the girl, especially with Freya's return which made it more difficult to do the things he wanted. He looked over at the clock and frowned at how late it was for Mayura, and even if she had detention, she would be at the office by now. She had yet to miss a day in making an appearance at his place, so the universe just better not conspire against him, or someone would have to deal with an angry, handsome... chancellor.

"Here you go, otou-san!" Hel-chan chirped, placing a nice cup of hot tea on his desk. He thanked her and closed his book before taking the cup for a sip. "It's the jasmine blend nii-san ordered last week," she informed him and then added as an after thought, "I bet senpai would love it!"

Yamino, placing a plate of cookies down on the floor for Fenrir, corrected, "It's jasmine silver needle white tea.***** It was said to be scented five times with fresh jasmine blossoms!" He almost sounded like a tea enthusiast, but then again, if it was for his father's picky taste, he would do any research necessary to accommodate him.

He smiled, "Thank y-"

Loki never got to finish thanking his son when the doors flew open, thankfully the hinges were still intact, and Mayura finally made her appearance, gracing them with a 120-watt smile, "Everyone!"

"Kaichou..."

"Senpai~!"

"Mayu-chan."

She marched to them, holding out a business card proudly, "We have a new case!" She placed the card down on Loki's desk as he leaned forward, and the two siblings, on either side of the girl, peered at the rectangular piece of paper, "I call it, _the Case of the Cursed Artist_!"

Loki read the artist's name and snorted in laughter, "Freyr isn't cursed, Mayu-chan. He lacks talent."

"Mou, Loki-sama! That's mean to say," she shook her finger at him. "The duty of a mystery club member is to help those in need!"

"Ano, senpai, I thought we were solving mysteries."

"Well, yes! It's the same thing! We're helping Kaitou-san by figuring out this curse, and by solving this curse mystery, we're helping Kaitou-san! Either way, our goal is one in the same! Attack the mystery!" she gushed energetically, with a 'hand on her hip and pumped up fist' pose, all the while, Loki happily played with her long hair.

"I think she just added another duty," Yamino smiled nervously.

Hel-chan giggled, "Oh, by the way, senpai, where are Kakinouchi-senpai and Narugami-senpai?"

"Hmm," Mayura now put on her thinking pose, an index finger on her chin, looking upwards to the ceiling, "Kakinouchi-kun had some family business to deal with- Mou, Loki-sama!" she pouted, trying to take her hair back from him, "and Narugami-kun, no clue," Loki was still messing with her, "He was out the door before I was."

She puffed out some air, glaring down at Loki, who had captured both of her hands within his and kissed them. Ignoring him, she turned to the remaining club mates, "We can work this case without them. Kaitou-san asked for a meeting tonight at eight, so we can go to his office after dinner."

After hearing that, Loki gave her hands a tug, grabbing her attention again even if it was just her glare, and told her, "Then you can have dinner with us." He smiled, "I'll even be a gentleman and escort you to see Freyr." One could just almost imagine a devil Loki inside his head cackling madly over 'being a gentleman' part, because he had so many things going through his head that weren't that gentlemanly.

She looked at him suspiciously, "You're awfully familiar with Kaitou-san, Loki-sama."

He sighed, "Well he is Freya's older twin brother."

"Eh?! No way!"

Mayura, lost in her thoughts, recalled how clumsy Freyr was, dropping the books again after she had given them back to him and she could barely get through the conversation with his continuous stuttering. Now she compared that to how confident and elegant Freya carried herself - yes, one could see why it was unbelievable, and maybe even a mystery! But wouldn't that be more for the psychologists or geneticists to research and discover, since she wanted to deal more with ghosts, goblins and aliens.

By the time she came out of her thoughts, she was seated at the dining table ready to eat, with Yamino, Hel-chan, and their adoptive father, Loki. And just who was in her lap? Loki wishing it was him, but no, it was Fenrir from out of the blue. His owner hugged him and cooed the puppy happily, and the kids were not seeing things, that was a sparkle of jealous fire in their father's eyes. The poor dog sweatdropped, having no idea that his presence would get that much attention from Mayura and that much trouble with Loki.

Yamino quickly intervened, "Aha, let me take Fenrir to the kitchen. Get him something to eat too."

Hel-chan breathed a sigh of relief when the two disappeared from view and then tried not to giggle when her father started scooping some of the dishes onto Mayura's plate. She pouted and tried to tell that she wasn't a four-year old kid. She could get her own food just fine but thanked him after that for inviting her to their family dinner. Even though she felt like an outsider there, they all made her feel so welcomed.

Yamino eventually rejoined them to a nice dinner together, and Mayura smiled to herself at the comfortable atmosphere she felt with her school mates, including the charming, lecherous chancellor. It was a lovely dinner, despite all the little teases and flirting from Loki, and much embarrassment for poor Yamino, and only to be encouraged by Hel-chan who had been giggling to herself the whole night.

It didn't help when Loki leaned over to Mayura, who was sitting to his right, and wiped a bit of food crumbs from the side of her mouth. "You missed a spot," he grinned. She turned pink, with embarrassment and fury, but somehow to thank him in the end. He looked at her musingly and wondered aloud, "I wonder how you would thank me... if I had licked it off?"

Yamino and Hel-chan gasped, followed by the clank of the former's utensil hitting the plate.

"L-Loki-sama!" Mayura turned away to avoid his seductive gaze, "You need to behave!"

"But we're all family here," he smiled and tugged her hair to get her to look at him again, but she stubbornly refused.

"What are you talking about?"

He kissed the ends of her hair, "You felt it, didn't you?"

She turned to him and blinked, thinking that she had felt strangely complete with them, and she wondered why. It was quite the mystery, though probably not categorized that high on her list of priorities, but it did garner some thoughts from her.

Hel-chan jumped in eagerly and hugged Mayura, "I did, otou-san!"

Loki smiled, not having the heart to withhold Mayura from his daughter, or any of his children, that was just too selfish of him, now that he felt a pang of guilt with Fenrir. Yamino had already started to clear the table, and they had less than an hour before they had to leave, but it didn't take long to do the dishes when it was the three of them, excluding Loki. Mayura was very insistent on helping them since she didn't get the chance when making dinner.

So by the time, she was ready to leave, Loki was waiting at the door for her, and Yamino and Hel-chan followed up to see them off. The girl blinked, "Huh, you two aren't coming?"

Yamino, blushing, made an excuse that he had an exam to study for while a pouting Hel-chan said she had a lot of homework to do. Mayura stared at them, a bit suspicious and oblivious of a smirking Loki behind her. Just as Fenrir ran in to the scene, Yamino snatched him up immediately, adding, "We can take of Fenrir until you return, kaichou."

"Oh all right," she sighed. After giving one last pet to Fenrir, she exited the compound first, finally realizing what a luxurious mansion they lived in. Loki grabbed her wrist and pulled along, finally happy that he now had her all to himself, and with the night falling upon them, he could get away with a lot more in the curtain of darkness, like holding her hands and being close to her where their arms could brush by.

"Ano, Loki-sama," came the sweet voice next to him.

"Hm?" he looked down to meet her pouty face.

"You can let me go now."

"What if I don't want to?" he teased, bring her hand up to his lips, and kissed it before weaving his fingers with hers.

"I'm not a child, you know!" she huffed.

"I know," he smiled and took her chin between his thumb and fingers, keeping her gaze on him, as he leaned down to her.

Not even ten feet from the house, and he was already making his move. Somewhere in the background, one could hear Hel-chan squealing in delight, and if one were to take a closer look at the house, the front bay window had three heads - a boy, a girl and a puppy - poking over the window sill to spy on the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"Loki-sama," she breathed, unknowingly enticing him even further, and there was no way he was going to pass up this opportunity. He had waited so long for her, and her lips practically calling out to him, for him to claim what was rightful his, but her hands suddenly got in the way, brushing over her face as if she was searching for something, "Did I get it? Was there something on my face again?"

He blinked at her and then laughed. The girl had just ruined her own romantic moment, not even realizing it, but then again, all that ever floated in her head wasn't of romance, which was a blessing for him, because she grew up without any male interest in mind. He was grateful for her endless interest in the mysteries of the world - well, he was partially involved in that, and perhaps one day, she would discover the greatest mystery of them all.

"Mou, Loki-sama! You weren't going to tell me?!" she pouted, since he was still laughing at her, "I was going to meet Kaitou-san with food on my face!" She pulled away and started walking ahead.

"That's a good idea," he said, walking after her, "We should cover you with food and scare him. He is scared of watermelons."

"That's mean!"

He wasn't sure which she had referred to that he was to do, but he figured there were no limits in teasing her. He fell into step right behind her stomping and smiled before leaning down to her ear, as they continued to walk. His breath brushed against the shell of her ear, "I would gladly eat the food off you."

He stopped walking just as he had expected her to do, but what came next took him by surprise: she ran.

Worried that he had just scared her, he chased after her, but boy, could she run, when she wanted to. They ran across campus, and luckily for them, it was dark and no one was around to chase after the hot, blonde guy and the cute girl. He finally caught up, grabbing her hand tightly before she could escape again. He tried to pull her into his embrace, but she resisted, and he attempted his apology, "Mayura, I-"

He never finished because she had turned to him, like a deer caught in healights, her whole face in a purely deep blush, and he lost all thoughts and words at her suddenly timid appearance, so defenseless. He could almost take advantage of it, if Loki ever got the chance, or people and things would just stop interrupting him, like that stupid, girly scream coming from the building in front of them.

"That sounds," Mayura gasped, "like Kaitou-san!" She broke into a run with Loki right next to her, his hand still holding hers, not that she even thought about it anymore. They pushed through the doors and ran up a flight of stairs, but after that Mayura had forgotten where the office was. As much as Loki detested having the information, he led her to Freyr's office and studio.

The door flew open and off its hinges, slamming in to a surprised Freyr, as Mayura made her entrance, followed by a reluctant Loki in to the dimly lit room, and the pair noticed the soft music playing in the background. In the center of the studio, with chairs and easels pushed out towards the walls, a table was decorated with candles and flowers, a romantic ambiance for two.

Loki frowned at the intimate setting, because he had suspected the worse when Freyr was involved, and to have him meet Mayura was as bad as nightmare involving water torture. The girl checked the room, since she couldn't find the artist anyway, inspecting every possible evidence of supernatural activity that had caused his disappearance, "I wonder if the curse took him?!"

There was a sound of someone moaning, and Mayura got excited, thinking it was a ghost, but Loki had shrugged it off and walked towards, over the fallen door that had Freyr underneath, squishing him under there further. "Oh wait, it's coming from there," she pointed to the door. Wanting to find out what it was, she bravely walked forward, but the sexy chancellor stopped her, insisting that it was for her own protection.

The door was thrown aside, and a dazed Freyr climbed to his feet, holding something burning in his oven-mitted hands.

"Kaitou-san! Are you okay?!" she asked worriedly.

Upon hearing the voice of his precious Yamato Nadeshiko, all his pains and worries disappeared, and he leapt for joy into her waiting arms, only to be met by Loki's hand instead. "LOKI!" he shouted, "You heathen! How dare you keep me from my Yamato Nadeshiko!"

With one hand still holding the burnt smelling dish, Freyr's other hand tried to take a swing at Loki, who sighed, still holding the idiot at arm's length. Mayura looked at Freyr, who seemed to be okay now, "Ne Kaitou-san."

He stopped messing with Loki and gave the wonderful girl his full attention, trying not to fidget under her beautiful gaze, "Y-Yes, my Yamato Nadeshiko?"

"Just now, were you in trouble? We heard you screaming on our way here."

"Y-Yes! Yes, I was!" Freyr showed the burnt dish he had, "Dinner is ruined!"

"OH!" she hadn't realized and felt terrible, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know you had a date."

"Eh?" Freyr's head lolled onto his shoulder in confusion, "But Yamato Nadeshiko, th-this dinner i-is for-"

She took Loki's arm and started for the exit. She glanced back, apologetically, "Sorry again, Kaitou-san. We won't disturb you any longer! Enjoy your night!"

"Heh, enjoy, Freyr!" Loki gave him a wave and disappeared with Mayura.

"AH! Yamato Nadeshiko!" In a panick, Freyr hurried clumsily after them, but he tripped over the door again and fell face first into his burnt cuisine. Just be glad he didn't knock over the table of candles and started a giant fire that would burn down the building and half of the campus that night, and yes, Loki was very happy the night ended as smoothly as it did, though he did not need another lovesick fool added to the fray.

"Shall we end the night together?" he asked her with a charming smile, giving her hand, which was still looped with his arm, a pat.

"It's a school night, Loki-sama," she answered dryly, having forgotten their intimate moment from earlier.

"I'll give you a free pass tomorrow."

They were still taking a stroll to who knew where, when she looked at him oddly, "You're abusing your powers again!"

"Am I?" he tried to look innocent, but she gave him a disapproving glare, "But it would be for the good of a mystery!"

She sulked, resting her head against his shoulder, "I don't think there's any tonight. And I was so excited when Kaitou-san screamed! It could've been the cursed ghost that was jealous of his artistic abilities coming to seek revenge!"

He laughed, "You have such a cute imagination."

"Mou, Loki-sama!" she peered up to him, "You don't believe in ghosts and goblins?"

"Hm, maybe I do?"

"Hrm, don't tease me so!" She stuck out her tongue at him, letting go of his arm, and ran ahead, "Good night, Loki-sama!"

He stood still, not pursuing her because he knew it was the end of their evening together, and watched her. It sort of made up for the date that she had forgotten about, but not quite. No one had ever stood up Loki for a date before, and some bad school girl was still going to be punished for it. He just had to wait for the right opportunity, and when it came, he would make it so memorable that she would yearn for more, beg for more in a sweet, adorable, desperate voice.

Yes, Loki-sama was definitely a sadist.

* * *

((Lol, this ended up rather weird than what I originally intended, but I did love the Loki-Mayu moments! I hope you guys liked them too! Maybe that was more the focus than the mysterious art (thief) extraordinaire, lol! Makes me feel sorry for Freyr. Not sure what my next plot is, trying to work on the other MLR stories.

Thanks for reading/reviewing! -kuro.))


End file.
